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