Human development Flashcards
Maturationist view of development (essence)
Genes pre-programme our development (e.g. motor skills). The role of the environment is to passively support this.
Behaviourist view of development (essence)
All behaviour is learnt from the environment as we develop. Genetic contribution to development is minimal.
Gene-environment correlation (essence)
The effects of genes and environment on development are not independent of each other.
i.e. genetic predispositions may only translate into a trait or characteristic in a particular environment. Conversely, an environment (e.g. stress) may overpower protective genetic factors.
Intelligence (genetic contribution)
Twin studies show a higher correlation between the IQ of MZ twins than DZ twins.
Adoption studies show a higher correlation between child and biological mother IQ compared with child and adoptive mother IQ.
Flynn effect
There has been a population level increase in IQ scores across generations across the globe over the last century.
i.e. When a new IQ test is taken by a sample group, their average score is set to 100. When sample groups have taken older tests. their average scores have consistently been above 100.
Forms of intelligence (2)
Fluid intelligence - problem solving
Crystallised intelligence - learnt material and concepts
Stage theory of development
A stage is a time period in development characterised by a unique set of behavioural patterns and capacities.
Stage theorists hold that individuals may vary according to the time they reach each stage, however, once reached, every individual shows a similar pattern of development.
Freudian psychoanalytic model of development (essence)
Every child develops three internal forces over the process of maturation: id, ego, superego.
Id (concern)
Immediate gratification of needs
Ego (concern)
Awareness of consequences
Helps to meet the desires of the id in a socially acceptable manner. This may mean delaying the gratification desired by the id.
Superego (concern; when does it develop?)
Internalising the values and morals of one’s society (learnt mainly from surrounding adults)
Develops last - during the Latency Stage of Psychosexual development
Two systems that operate within the superego
- The ideal self
- a mental picture about how you ought to be or how you would like to be - The conscience
- the part that punishes the ego for giving in to the id’s impulsive desires. The punishment is mediated by the resultant feeling of guilt.
Freud’s stages of psychosexual development (5, +ages)
Oral (0-1) Anal (1-3) Phallic (3-6) - Oedipus complex, castration phobia - Electra complex Latency (6-puberty) Genital (puberty and onwards)
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (4, +ages)
Sensorimotor (0-2)
Preoperational (2-7)
Concrete operational (7-11)
Formal operational (11+)
Which stage of development? (+ age)
- Uses movements and sensations to learn
- Development of object permanence - children learn that objects continue to exist even when they are out of their sight
Sensorimotor stage (0-2yrs)
Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory
Which stage of development? (+ age)
Thinking is characterised by
- Egocentricism
- Inability to conserve
- Phenomenalistic causality
- Animistic thinking
- Semiotic function
Actions:
- Deferred imitation
- Symbolic play
- Graphic imagery (drawing)
Preoperational (2-7yrs)
Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory
Which stage of development? (+ age)
- Child can conserve (mass (age 7) and weight (age 9))
- Child can see things from other people’s point of view (less egocentric)
- Can work out complex and logical mathematical rules, provided they concern concrete objects
- They cannot undertake more abstract problem-solving
Concrete operational (7-11yrs)
Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory
Which stage of development? (+ age)
- Abstract thinking - children can manipulate ideas based on verbal statements rather than needing to see concrete evidence to problem-solve
- Hypotheticodeductive thinking - the highest organisation of cognition, enables a person to make a hypothesis or proposition and to test it against reality. Deductive reasoning moves from the general to the particular and is a more complicated process than inductive reasoning, which moves from the particular to the general.
Formal operational (11+)
NB: some adults never attain this phase
(Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory)
Erikson’s Psychosocial development (Stages 1-4, +ages)
Trust vs mistrust (0-1)
Autonomy vs shame (1-3)
Initiative vs guilt (3-5)
Industry vs inferiority (5-12)
Erikson’s Psychosocial development (Stages 5-8, +ages)
Identity vs role confusion (12-19)
Intimacy vs isolation (19-35)
Generativity vs stagnation (35-65)
Integrity vs despair (65+)
Trust vs mistrust, 0-1yrs (basic virtue)
Hope
Autonomy vs shame, 1-3yrs (basic virtue)
Will
Initiative vs guilt, 3-5yrs (basic virtue)
Purpose
Industry vs. inferiority, 5-12 years (basic virtue)
Competence
Identity vs. role confusion, 12-19 years (basic virtue)
Fidelity
Intimacy vs. isolation, 19-35 years (basic virtue)
Love
Generativity vs. stagnation, 35-65 years (basic virtue)
Care
Integrity vs. despair, 65 and onwards, (basic virtue)
Wisdom
Attachment (definition)
An emotional bond to another individual.
‘lasting psychological connectedness between human beings’ (Bowlby, 1969)
Attachment theory (key tenets)
An infant needs to develop a relationship with at least one primary caregiver for social and emotional development to occur normally.
The primary caregiver must be available and responsive to the infant’s needs in order for the child to develop a sense of security.
This gives the infant a secure base from which they can gradually go out and explore the world.
Donald Winnicott (2 key concepts in attachment theory)
The good-enough mother
The concept of holding
Stages of attachment development, Schaffer and Emerson (4,+ages)
Pre-attachment (birth - 3 months)
Discriminate attachment (6 weeks - 6 months)
Clear-cut attachment (6 - 11 months)
Multiple attachments - (starting from 9 months)
The Strange Situation Assessment
- theorist
- age-range
- description
Mary Ainsworth (1970)
designed for children between 12 and 18 months
Seven 3-minute episodes:
- Parent and child alone in room
- Stranger joins
- Parent leaves
- Parent returns, stranger leaves
- Parent leaves (child alone)
- Stranger returns
- Parent returns
4 behaviour categories are observed:
- Separation anxiety
- Child’s ability to explore
- Stranger anxiety
- Reunion behaviour
Mary Ainsworth attachment styles (3+1; prevalences)
Secure (70%)
Anxious-ambivalent, aka resistant (15%)
Anxious-avoidant (15%)
‘Disorganised’ attachment was later described
Secure attachment (separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour, other)
- Distressed when mother leaves
- Avoids stranger when alone but friendly if mother present
- Positive and happy when mother returns
- Uses parent as safe base to explore environment
Ambivalent (resistant) attachment
separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour, other
- Intense distress went mother leaves
- Avoids stranger and shows fear
- Approaches mother but resists contact, may even push her away
- Cries more and explores less than the other 2 types
Avoidant attachment (separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, reunion behaviour, other)
- No distress when mother leaves
- Fine with strangers and plays normally in their presence
- Ignores mother when she returns
- Mother and stranger able to comfort infant equally well
Disorganised attachment (characterisation)
- Undisguised demonstrations of fear
- Behaving or becoming affected by something in a contradictory way
- Stereotypic, asymmetric, misdirected, or jerky movements
- Becoming frozen and seemingly disorientated with surroundings
Internal workings model of social relationships, Bowlby (characterisation)
Repeated experiences with caregivers lead to a system of cognitions, memories, beliefs, expectations, feelings and actions about the self, others and the world.
A child, and later an adult, will attempt to have relational experiences that tally with their expectations.
Adult attachment interview, Mary Main (4 forms of adult attachment)
Autonomous
Preoccupied (entangled)
Dismissing
Unresolved/disorganised
Parenting style (definition)
A psychological construct that represents the attitudes parents have towards child rearing and other things such as education, work, or gender roles.
Different from parenting practices, which refers to specific behaviours that parents employ to bring up children.
Parenting styles, Baumrind (4)
Authoritarian
Authoritative
Indulgent (aka Permissive)
Uninvolved
Which parenting style?
Demanding but not responsive
This style is characterised by strict rules and punishment if the rules are not adhered to. Explanations behind the rules are often lacking. These parents are focussed on status and obedience.
Generally leads to children who are obedient and proficient, but who rank lower in happiness, social competence and self-esteem.
Authoritarian
Which parenting style?
Demanding and responsive
Parents tend to be more responsive to their children than authoritarian parents. There are strict rules but explanations behind them are given. When children fail to meet expectations they are nurtured rather than punished. The focus here is on setting standards but also being supportive.
Tends to result in children who are happy, capable and successful.
Authoritative
Which parenting style?
Responsive but not demanding
These parents rarely discipline their children. They avoid confrontation and allow their children to self regulate. They prefer to take the role of a friend rather than a disciplinarian.
Often results in children who rank low in happiness and self-regulation. These children are more likely to experience problems with authority and tend to perform poorly in school.
Indulgent (Permissive)
Which parenting style?
Neither demanding nor responsive
This style of parenting is characterised by little involvement and few demands.
These children tend to lack self-control, have low self-esteem and are less competent than their peers.
Uninvolved
Margaret Mahler - Separation-Individuation Theory of Child Development (3, +ages)
Describes the development in young children of a sense of identity separate from their mothers.
I - Autistic phase
Takes place during first few weeks of life. Child is cut off, spends most of time sleeping
II - Symbiotic phase
This lasts until around 6 months of age, the child considers themselves and the mother to be a single unit and has no sense of themselves as an individual
III - Separation-individuation phase During this phase the child learns to be an individual. This phase is split up into the 4 sub phases; - differentiation, - practicing, - rapprochement, - object constancy
Separation-Individuation phase (Mahler) - 4 sub-phases (+age)
Differentiation (5-10 months)
- slowly appreciates the difference between mother and self
Practicing (10-18 months)
- practices exploration; a gradual increase in interest in the environment
Rapprochement (18-24 months)
- alternating drives to be autonomous and dependent; able to explore alone but requires comfort and reassurance on return
- The toddler becomes acutely aware of his separation from the mother. concerned with mother’s whereabouts and demonstrates his anxiety through active approach behavior (rapprochement).
Object constancy (2-5 yrs) - understands that the mother will not be lost if temporarily away; hence able to function independently
‘DPRO’
Temperament (definition)
The innate qualities of an individual’s personality; the basic style with which a baby responds to the environment
Key study of temperament carried out by Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess
New York Longitudinal Study
Identified 9 behavioural traits which provide an overall description of a child’s temperament:
- Rhythmicity
- Activity level
- Approach/withdrawal
- Adaptability
- Threshold for responsiveness
- Intensity of reactions
- Quality of mood
- Distractibility
- Attention span
Temperament - types (3, +prevalence)
Thomas and Chess
Easy (40%)
- a child who is positive in mood, has regular biorhythms, is adaptable, has a low intensity of emotions and a positive approach to novelty
Difficult (10%)
- a child who has overall negative mood, irregular biorhythms, is slow to adapt, has a high intensity of emotions and a negative response to novelty
Slow to warm up (15%)
- a child whose reactions tend to be less intense and extreme and who adapts gradually
Goodness of fit (theorist, essence)
Concept developed by Thomas and Chess.
Refers to the fit between parental expectations and a child’s individual temperament.
Egocentricism (essence & age)
Concept in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
Before the age of ~7, children only see the world from their own perspective
e.g. when shown a model of the mountains with a doll next to it, they cannot identify the perspective from which the doll would see the mountains
Conservation (essence)
Concept in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
The ability to appreciate that a quantity (e.g. a volume of liquid) remains the same despite a change in appearance
Schema (Piaget - essence)
Concept in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
a category or ‘basic unit’ of knowledge. The child organises this knowledge into rules.
e.g. ‘all four legged animals are cats’
Assimilation and Accommodation (Piaget - essence)
Assimilation - the generalisation of a schema to other things / the process of taking new information into an existing schema (without restructuring the schema)
Accomodation - altering a schema in view of additional information
e.g. a child might think that ‘all four legged animals are cats’ (schema). They then refer to a dog as a cat (assimilation), but later learn that ‘not all four legged animals are cats’ (accomodation)
Theory of mind (definition)
the ability to attribute mental states — beliefs, intents, desires, emotions, knowledge, etc. — to oneself, and to others, and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that are different from one’s own.