Lecture 1 Flashcards
Introduction
Detentions:what is developmental psychology y?
Conceptual views: how do we think about developmental psychology?
Practical implications: how do we study developmental psychology?
Conceptual views of development
- organic vs mechanistic
- continuity vs discontinuity
- stability vs change
- nature vs nurture
Organismic vs mechanistic worldviews
Organismic (active): people actively interact with their environment. This interaction shapes development
Multiple interactions at once
Cognitive abilities
E.g. children creating and updating schemas
Mechanistic (passive): people are akin to Passive “machines”. Development is shaped by external environmental influence and learning
Ex: piagetian theory of cognitive development - an organismic view
- shift to viewing children as active agents shaping their own developmental course
- cogntive adaptations are used to better understands the world, continually changing over time
- individual plays an active role in development
Ex: behaviourism - a mechanistic view
- individual is passively shaped by the environment through learning and conditioning
These are both two needs of extremes
Continuity vs discontinuity
Continuous process?
Discreet age-specific periods or stages?
How can the study design affect our perception of development?
- ex, comparing 5 to 10 year olds vs 9 and 10 year olds
- measuring behaviour every week or every year?
Stability vs chnage
Stability of traits over time
- e.g. shyness, does it stay over time
- ability to Learn languages is much higher when younger
Does a behaviour or trait stay stable over time or change?
- e.g. personality research, colicky baby = anxious adult?
Importance of early experiences?
- critical periods or sensitive periods?
- attachment theory and emotional development (e.g. Bowlby and Ainsworth)
Romanian adoptees (Rutter et al. 1998)
- some able to catch up despite early experiences
What infleunces development?
Friends
Genes
Parents
Individual learning
Evolution
Social learning
Biology
Siblings
Nature vs nurture
Biological: genetic infleunce
- e.g. Gesell
Environmental: experience (parents, education, culture)
- “give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specific world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select - doctors, artist, merchant-chief and yes, even beggar-man and their, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors” - Watson (1930)
Nature through nurture
Evolution and ethology
Evolutionary psychology
- does human ancestors tell us about ourselves now?
Ethnological approach
- explain behaviour in terms of their adaptive benefit and survival value
- e.g. aggression in humans, disguist
- fear of snakes despite not living in a country that has dangerous snakes living in the wild
Culture and development
Vygotsky - culture and social environment make a difference
- first person to discuss effect culture has on development
Impact of culture on individuals and groups
- children are shapes by their culutre, learning through observation of others (social learning/observational learning)
- e.g. cultures/customs
Impacts of cultures on milestones and norms
Cross-cultural infleunces
Exmaple: motor milestones
Problems:
- are they universals or cultural conventions?
- cultural practises impact upon development e.g. encouraged to sit earlier/massaged vs restrained fro long periods of time
- these different practised may therefore affect how fast people hit milestones, even motor milestones
Shifting cultural views
Historical views
- child labour - used to be big in this country, but is is now illegal, however it still happens a lot in other cultures
- if a child is forced into work from a very young young aged, their views on the world and therefore development will be effected
Gender roles and identities:
- shift from binary views
- gender roles chnage as a product of culture (both over time and cross-culturally)
Practical applications
Optimise development
- parental practises, education
- head start/sure start programmes to combat effects of poverty
- anti-bullying programmes
Detect and provide care for neurodivergence
Health and mental well-being across the lifespan
Solical policy, reform and laws
- effects of violent content in video games
- children’s court testimony
- best way to interview child
