L7 - Child - Theories of Social Development Flashcards
What is a Theory?
An orderly, integrated set of statements that rexplains or predicts behaviour.
- Something that helps us understand complex information.*
- Something that breaks things down in order for us to understand the world.*
For theories to be accepted or maintained as knowledge, they need to be verified through…
Scientific Verification - A replication of results.
Are theories entirely objective?
No, they are meant to make sense of the world and therefore are influenced by social and cultural contexts
Has one theory explained all behaviour in regards to children?
No, children are complex and therefore we use a range of theories to explain behaviour.
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a ____ based theory
Stage
In regards to social development are stage based theories generally considered valid?
No, there are too many social and environmental factors and differences between individuals that influence social development in order to accurately describe it in stages.
Do all children develop socially in a normalized way?
Yes/No and Why.
No
There is individual differences in development and it can be influenced by environmental factors.
Describe Behaviourism as a learning theory.
Learning is based around stimulus-response
Focus is on External factors - All behaviour can be explained without the need to consider internal facors
Individual differences due to the mechanisms of change - Individual differences due to different histories of reinforcement
John Watson was the founder of ____
Behaviourism
John Watson believed that children’s development was influenced by their 1)______ ______ and that learning 2)______ ______ was the primary mechanism.
1) Social Environment
2) learning through conditioning
Little Albert experiment was conducted by
John Watson
What is the primary critique of behaviourism in terms of developmental psychology?
Too Simplistic; Exclusive focus on conditioning can be considered simplistic in terms of development and therefore can’t explain a lot of behaviour.
Systematic desensitization for the ‘treatment’ of phobias is based off the principles of…
Behaviourism
B.F. Skinner’s theory was based around the principles of…
Operant Conditioning
What did Skinner find regarding child development while conducting his research of the nature and function of reinforcement?
1) That attention is a powerful reinforcer
2) Difficult to extinguish behaviour that has been intermittently reinforced.
* e.g. only sometimes reinforced - pokies*
Operant Conditioning focuses on…
Antecedents and Responses
Rewards/Punishments
How is operant conditioning applied in child psychology?
In behaviour modification therapies
Where reinforcements or responses are changed to encourage more adaptive behaviour.
What are the two most powerful forms of reinforcement for kids that have studies shown in terms of operant conditioning?
Positive Reinforcement and Witholding Negative Reinforcement
Punishments are easier in the moment, but aren’t as effective as postitive reinforcement or negative reinforcement
What type of learning theories developed following operant conditioning behaviour theory?
Social Learning Theory
Who developed social learning theory?
Albert Bandura
In Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, what did he argue regarding how people learn?
People learn from one another via observation, imitation and modelling.
What experiment did Bandura development to study children and aggression?
Bobo dolls experiment
What was the Bobo Dolls experiment?
A child would watch an adult do something to a Bobo doll in a video. Then they would be put in a room with a Bobo doll and experimenters monitored how they acted with the Bobo doll.
In Bandura’s Bobo dolls experiment, what were the three groups of children shown?
1st group: Observed the model rewarded for aggressive behaviour
2nd group: Saw the model punished for aggressive behaviour
3rd group: Saw the model experience no consequences
What were the 2 main findings of Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment?
1) Children quickly acquire new behaviours simply by observing others (imitation).
2) The tendency to reproduce behaviour depends on whether the person whos actions were observed were rewarded or punished
- more likely to reproduce if rewarded, however simply paying attention to the model was the best predictor of behaviour (attention is a powerful reinforcer)
Bandura’s theory was influential because it explain how ____ ____ influences childrens behaviour.
Social Modelling
How much does what children see in their family and environment influence their behaviour.
Bandura can be described as a _____ _____ theorist.
Social Learning
Over time Bandura started to focus more on the cognitive aspects of his theory.
What 6 cognitive things did Bandura focus on?
Attention
Encoding
Storing
Retrieving information
Reproduction of behaviour
Motivation - especially concerning perceived rewards
Bandura’s theory was influential in the transition between what two theories of psychology?
Behaviourism and Cognitive Psychology
Explain the three parts of Bandura’s Reciprocal Determinism in explaining how people behave.
What are the three things called that influence each other and influence behaviour at each stage of our development according to Bandura’s Reciprocal Determinism?
Internal personal/cognitive factors (e.g. liking high-risk activities)
Environmental Factors (e.g. bungee-jumping friends)
Behaviour (e.g. learning to bungee jump)
What do Socio-Cognitive Theories of childhood development focus on?
Focus on children’s ability to think and reason about their own and other people’s thoughts, feelings, motives and behaviours
- Recognition that children are active social thinkers
The difference between behaviourist approaches and socio-cognitive theories of childhood development can be described as…
Behaviourist: Children are passive in cognitive processes and are more responsive to their environment
Socio-Cognitive: Children can think and reason and are active social thinkers and are able to make choices.
Selman was what type of theorist?
Socio-Cognitive Theorist
What was Selman’s focus on in child behaviour?
Role Taking
- The ability to adopt the perspective of another
Is Selman’s Theory of childhood social development a ‘stage’ theory or not?
It is a stage theory
How many stages are there in Selman’s theory?
all information on these stages is important for exam
4 stages
What is stage 1 of Selman’s theory and how old are the children in this stage?
Appreciate that others have different perspecetive - assume person doesn’t have the same information
Age 6-8
What is stage 2 of Selman’s theory and how old are the children in this stage?
Can also think about the other person’s point of view
Age: 8-10
What is stage 3 of Selman’s theory and how old are the children in this stage?
Systematic comparison of views of self and one or two of others
Age: 10-12
What is stage 4 of Selman’s theory and how old are the children in this stage?
Attempt to understand others’ perspective through comparison with ‘generalised other’ (abstract)
Age: 12+
What are the critiques of social cognitive theorists?
Incomplete account of behaviour as it has little focus on biological factors in development
i.e. adolescence biological change
What do ecological perspectives of social development focus on?
Take a broad view of the environment to look at child development
What are the three ecological ‘perspectives’?
Ethological
Evolutionary
Bio-ecological
Which ecological perspective(s) relate childrens development to evolutionary history?
Ethological and Evolutionary
Which ecological perspective(s) emphasize children’s active role in selecting and influencing the environment?
Bio-ecological
Focus on childrens environment and what is happening around them and the influence they have on their environment
Which ecological perspective(s) central issue is nature vs. nurture?
Ethological and Evolutionary
e.g. Evolution: Children have traits that have evolved to develop pro social behaviour
Who developed the bio-ecological model of development?
Bronfenbrenner
What is Bronfenbrenners bio-ecological model of development?
There is a set of nested structures.
There is a child at the center of each with their own set of characteristics which interact with the environment at each level.
Explain the layers of Bronfenbrenner’s theory?
important for exam
Environmental influences on child development - Child in center: immediate things aroudn the child will have an influence when they are very young
Chronosystem: How time influences the systems
Macro system: Ideologies, laws and culture that will have an influence on the childs development
Exo System: Neighbourhood they live in, welfare services (influnced by culture but a step closer to the child)
Mesosystem - How the microsystems interact
Micro system: closest things to the child - family, doctors, school etc.
Name the 5 ‘systems’ in Bronfrenbremmers bio-ecological model?
Microsystem
Mesosystem
Exosystem
Macrosystem
Chronosystem
What does the microsystem consist of in Bronfrenbremmer’s bio-ecological model?
Immediate, bi-directional environment
What does the mesosystem consist of in Bronfrenbremmer’s bio-ecological model?
Connections between various microsystems
What does the exosystem consist of in Bronfrenbremmer’s bio-ecological model?
Environmental settings that the person does not directly experience but which can influence the child indirectly
e.g. media
What does the macrosystem consist of in Bronfrenbremmer’s bio-ecological model?
Larger historical context
What does the chronosystem consist of in Bronfrenbremmer’s bio-ecological model?
Historical changes that influence other systems
How would you use Bronfrenbremmer’s model in psychological practice?
To understand childhood development, look at his model and look at what is happening at school, family environments, cultural environment etc. to see how that might be influencing their behaviour.
