Module One: Introduction to Development: Theories, Theorists and Perspectives Flashcards
prenatal development stage period
conception - birth
infancy and toddlerhood period
birth - 2 years old
early childhood period
3 - 5 years old
middle childhood period
6 - 11 years old
adolescence period
12 years old - adulthood
nature vs. nurture
debate on if heredity or environment or both have a bigger influence on shaping who we are
continuity vs. discontinuity
debate on if development is gradual or abrupt (stages?)
active vs. passive
debate on if children have a more active role on their development or if the environment plays a bigger role in development
nature theorists
- explore biological maturation/impact of genes
sigmund freud
- psychoanalytic theorist
- studied the impact of childhood experiences on adulthood
- saw development in stages (oral, anal, etc.)
nurture theorists
believed children were born a blank slate, shaped by their environment
ian pavlov
- classical conditioning
unconditioned stimulus
causes a response without any prior learning
unconditioned response
automatic response to a stimulus
conditioned stimulus
previously neutral stimulus that eventually triggers a conditioned response
conditioned response
the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus
oral stage
- birth - 2 years old
- infant is all “Id” (primitive part of our psyche driven by instincts)
- all stimulation and comfort-focused on the mouth based on sucking reflex
anal stage
- stage of potty training and managing biological urges
- beginning development of ego
- fixation to the stage may result in OCD like behaviours or lack of self-control
phallic stage
- early childhood
- development of the superego
- develop a sense of masculinity/femininity
latency stage
- middle childhood
- urges quiet down and focus on friendship
- ego and superego refined through cooperation development
genital stage
- puberty - adulthood
- preoccupation is sex and reproduction
behaviourist theorists
- focuses on responses to environment
b.f. skinner
- behaviourist
- operant conditioning
- reinforcement
positive reinforcement
- reward to encourage behaviour
i.e. giving a child a cookie for cleaning up toys
negative reinforcement
- taking away something unpleasant to encourage behaviour
i.e. alarm clock in the morning
positive punishment
- giving an unwanted consequence to discourage behaviour
i.e. spanking
negative punishment
- taking away a pleasant stimulus to discourage behaviour
i.e. timeout
jean piaget
- constructivist
- believed children construct learning through environmental interaction
- piaget’s stages (sensorimotor, pre-operational)
sensorimotor stage
- 0 - 2 years old
- children rely heavily on senses and motor skills
preoperational stage
- 2 - 7 years old
- think about the world using symbols
- use of language
- still do not understand how the physical world operates
concrete operation stage
- 7 - 11 years old
- develop ability to think logically about physical world
- understand size, distance, cause and effect
formal operational stage
- 12 years old
- develop ability to think logically about concrete and abstract events
lee vygotsky
- behaviourist
- believed cognitive abilities were socially constructed
- believed language created shared meaning/necessary for thought
- sociocultural theory
sociocultural theory
- emphasized importance of culture and interaction in development of cognitive abilities
schemas
mental frameworks for acquiring knowledge (general common knowledge about things)
assimilation
adding to an existing schema
accommodation
modifying or creating a new scheme
zone of proximal development
gap between what a child can do
independently versus with
assistance
scaffolding
guidance of a caregiver in a child’s development of cognitive skills
albert bandura
- social psychologist
- believed behaviours were learned through imitation
- bobo doll experiment
- studied reciprocal determinism
reciprocal determinism
interaction between environment
and individual determines
learning outcomes
erik erikson
- constructivist
- believed that our relationships and society’s expectations motivate much of our behaviour
- emphasized importance of culture in parenting practices and motivations
id
part of the self that responds to biological urges without pause and is guided by the principle of pleasure
ego
part of the self that is guided by logic or the reality principle; able to manage urges
superego
represents society’s demands for its members
