Introduction to Understanding Human Development

Question 1

Why do we study child development?

Answer 1

Raising children effectively: anger (and other negative emotions) management;

Choosing social policies: detection and prevention of developmental problems vs treatment; child testimony;

Understanding human nature: effects of early deprivation.

Question 2

What did Plato and Aristotle both believe?

Answer 2

Plato & Aristotle both believed that long-term welfare of society depended on raising children appropriately

Question 3

What specifically did Plato believe?

Answer 3

Plato emphasised self-control and discipline; believed child born with innate knowledge.

Question 4

What specifically did Aristotle believe?

Answer 4

Aristotle was more concerned with fitting child rearing to the needs of individual child. He believed knowledge came from experience.

Question 5

John Locke

Answer 5

Locke believed that a child is a blank slate (tabula rasa).

Parents set good example of honesty, stability & gentleness.

Question 6

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Answer 6

Rousseau believed that children should be given maximum freedom from the beginning. They learn from spontaneous interactions with objects and people.

Question 7

Social reform movements

Answer 7

Earl of Shaftesbury – children under 10 should not work in mines.

Question 8

What are the five perspectives of development

Answer 8

Psychoanalytic
Behavioural / Social Learning
Cognitive
Biological
Systems

Question 9

What are the two psychoanalytic theories?

Answer 9

1. Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development.

2. Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development.

Question 10

What are the three learning theories?

Answer 10

1. Behaviourism
2. Operant Conditioning
3. Social Learning Theory

Question 11

What are the three theories of cognitive development?

Answer 11

1. Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory
2. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
3. Information processing perspectives

Question 12

What are the two ecological theories of development?

Answer 12

1. Ethological and Evolutionary Theories

2. The Bioecological Model.

Question 13

What are the four developmental themes?

Answer 13

1. Continuity/Discontinuity
2. Individual Differences
3. Nature and Nurture
4. The Active Child

Question 14

Psychoanalytic/ psychodynamic theory

Answer 14

Focus on personality development

Frued: effects of conscious and unconscious processes on development

Behaviour is motivated by the need to satisfy basic drives

Id (basic drives)
Ego (reality)
Superego (conscience)

Question 15

What were Frued’s lasting contributions to developmental psychology?

Answer 15

Role of early experience;
Importance of subjective experience;
Discovery of the unconscious;
Emphasis on the role of emotional relationships in development.

Question 16

Id

Answer 16

The earliest and most primitive of the personality structures, ruled by the pleasure principle (to obtain maximal pleasure as quickly as possible). Stands for “untamed passions.”

Question 17

Ego

Answer 17

The mind’s link to the external world of reality. Stands for “reason and good sense.”

Question 18

Superego

Answer 18

The conscience that enables a child to control behaviour and develop morally. The superego develops through internalization of parents’ standards.

Question 19

What are the five stages of psychosexual development?

Answer 19

1. Oral: 0 - 18 months
2. Anal: 18 - 36 months
3. Phallic: 3 – 6 years
4. Latency: 6 years - puberty
5. Genital: puberty →

Question 20

Frued’s Oral Stage

Answer 20

Oral stage, birth to 1 year: Primary source of satisfaction is oral pleasure, such as sucking and eating. The id controls.

Question 21

Frued’s Anal Stage

Answer 21

Anal stage, 1 to 3 years: Primary source of pleasure is defecation. The ego begins to develop.

Question 22

Frued’s Phallic Stage

Answer 22

Phallic stage, 3 to 6 years: Children become interested in their own genitalia and curious about parents’ and playmates’. The superego emerges.

Question 23

Freud’s Latency Stage

Answer 23

Latency stage, 6 to 12 years: Sexual desires are hidden away in the unconscious; psychic energy is channeled into intellectual and social pursuits. Ego and superego continue to develop.

Question 24

Frued’s Genital Stage

Answer 24

Genital stage, at puberty: Sexual energy is directed toward opposite-sex peers. Ideally, a strong ego and a superego that is neither too weak nor too strong have developed.

Question 25

Erikson's theory of psychosocial development

Answer 25

Erikson (1902–1994) had enormous influence on developmental psychology. Proposed eight age-related development stages that span infancy to old age. (epigenetic model) Each stage is characterized by a crisis, or task, that the individual must resolve. An unresolved task will impede progress to the next stage.

Question 26

Erikson's Stages: basic trust vs. mistrust

Answer 26

Basic trust vs. Mistrust, birth to 1 year: (corresponds to Freud’s oral stage) The task is to develop an essential trustfulness of others as well as a sense of one’s own trustworthiness. Development of basic trust requires warm, consistent, reliable care-giving that leads the infant to trust the mother or caregiver.

Question 27

Erikson's Stages: autonomy vs. shame and doubt

Answer 27

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, 1 to 3 years: (corresponds to Freud’s anal stage) Children gain motor skills, cognitive abilities, and language, which enable them to make choices and decisions for themselves. Children need a supportive atmosphere that allows them to gain a sense of self-control that enhances self-esteem. Severe punishment, shame, or ridicule will impede achievement of autonomy.

Question 28

Erikson's Stages: initiative vs. guilt

Answer 28

Initiative vs. Guilt, 4 to 6 years: Children identify with and learn from their parents. Corresponds with Freud’s phallic stage. Children set goals and learn to achieve them. Children internalize parents’ rules and standards and develop a conscience. Children need to achieve a healthy balance between initiative and guilt.

Question 29

Erikson's Stages: industry vs. inferiority

Answer 29

Industry vs. Inferiority, 6 years to puberty: Corresponds with Freud’s latency period; crucial for ego development.

Question 30

Erikson's Stages: identity vs. role confusion

Answer 30

Identity vs. Role Confusion, adolescence to early adulthood: The critical stage for achievement of core sense of identity. Adolescents must resolve the question of who they are or they will be confused as adults.

Question 31

Current perspectives on psychoanalytic theories

Answer 31

Freud’s emphasis was on the importance of early experiences and emotional relationships. Erikson’s emphasis was on the identity task of adolescence. The weakness of both theories is that they are not testable and not verifiable.

Question 32

Behavioural/ Social Learning

Answer 32

Focus: Observable conditions and influences on behaviour Skinner: Changes and development in behaviour in response to environmental contingencies of reinforcement Bandura: Children learn by observation, imitation and modelling; vicarious reinforcement Watson believed that children’s development is determined by their social environment, especially their parents.

Question 33

What do Behavioural/ Social learning theories emphasise?

Answer 33

Emphasize the role of external factors in shaping personality and social behaviour. The primary developmental question is that of continuity/discontinuity. Learning theories also focus on the role of specific mechanisms of change.

Question 34

Watson's behaviourism

Answer 34

Watson believed that children’s development is determined by their social environment, especially their parents. Ignored mental states and emphasized conditioning. Proved with his famous “Little Albert” experiment that fear could be conditioned.

Question 35

Skinner's operant conditioning

Answer 35

Skinner believed that behaviour was under environmental control. Changes and development in behaviour in response to environmental contingencies of reinforcement to gain rewards to avoid punishment

Question 36

What are Skinner's contributions to child rearing?

Answer 36

A major tenet is that we tend to repeat behaviours that lead to favourable outcomes (reinforcement) and suppress those that result in unfavourable outcomes (punishment). Skinner showed that attention is a powerful reinforcer. The behaviour-management strategy of “time-out” focuses on the withdrawal of attention. Skinner showed the difficulty of extinguishing behaviour that has been intermittently reinforced (that is, sometimes rewarded and sometimes not). Skinner’s work led to behaviour-modification therapy, which is useful for changing undesirable behaviours.

Question 37

Social cognitive learning theory

Answer 37

Places the emphasis on the observation and imitation of others, as well as on the cognitive processes of attention, encoding, storing, and retrieval of information to reproduce the behaviour observed. Bandura emphasized reciprocal determinism between children and their social environment, which emphasizes the active role children have in their own development.

Question 38

What are the perspectives on social/ cognitive theories?

Answer 38

They are important for their emphasis on cognitive processes. They have a strong emphasis on children as active seekers of information about the social realm. They provide the insight that the effect of children’s social experience depends on their interpretation of experiences. They have little to say about biological factors.