Perspectives on Child Development Flashcards
Psychosexual development [Sigmund Freud] core concepts
Social codes channel primitive impulses resulting in unconscious conflict.
Freud || nature or nurture?
Interaction of Maturation sets the stage for reacting to social influences
Freud || continuous or discontinuous?
Discontinuous: 5 stages of development that express or repress sexual impulses.
Freud || is child active or passive?
Passive: The child is large at the mercy of older people and cultural modes of conduct.
Psychosocial development [Erik Erikson] core concepts
Children undergo life crises that are largely based on social relationships and expectations
Erikson || nature or nurture?
Interaction of nature and nurture: Maturation sets the stage for reacting to social influences and opportunities
Erikson || continuous or discontinuous?
Discontinuous: There are 8 stages of development, each which involves a life crisis.
Erikson || is child active or passive?
Active: The child makes conscious decisions about the formation of his or her own personality and behaviour
Behaviourism [Pavlov, Skinner, Watson] core concepts
Behaviour is learned by association, as in classical and operant conditioning
Behaviourism || nature or nurture?
Nurture: Children are seen as blank slates
Behaviourism || continuous or discontinuous?
Continuous: Behaviour reflects the summation of conditioned responses
Behaviourism || is child active or passive?
Passive: Responses are learned by association and maintained by reinforcement
Social cognitive theory (Albert Bandura) core concepts
Conditioning occurs, but children also learn by observing others and choose whether to display learned responses
Bandura || nature or nurture?
Emphasizes nurture but allows for the expression of natural tendencies
Bandura || continuous or discontinuous
Continuous
Bandura || is child active or passive?
Active: Children influence the environment even as the environment influences them.
Cognitive-development theory [Jean Piaget] core concepts
Children adapt to the environment by assimilating new event to existing mental structures and accommodating those structures
Piaget || nature or nurture?
Emphasizes nature but allows for influences of experience
Piaget || continuous or discontinuous?
Discontinuous: Cognitive development follows an invariant sequence of four stages
Piaget || is child active or passive?
Active: children are budding scientists who seek to understand and manipulate their worlds
Information processing theory [numerous theorists] core concepts
Children’s cognitive functioning is compared to that of computers–how they input, manipulate, store, and output information
Information Processing || nature or nurture?
Interaction of nature and nurture
Information Processing || continuous or discontinuous?
Continuous: The child’s capacity for storing information and his or her ability to run multiple “programs” at once develop continuously.
Information Processing || active or passive?
Active: children seek to obtain and manipulate information
Ethology and evolution [Darwin, Lorenz, Tinbergen ] core concepts
Organisms are biologically prewired to develop certain adaptive responses during sensitive periods
Ethology and evolution: nature or nurture?
Emphasizes nature, but experience is also critical.
Ethology and evolution: continuous or discontinuous?
Discontinuous: Certain kinds of learning are said to occur during sensitive periods, which are biologically determined
Ethology and evolution: is child active or passive?
Not indicated
Ecological systems theory [Urie Bronfenbrenner] core concepts
Children’s development occurs within interlocking systems, and development is enhanced by intervening in these systems
Bronfenbrenner || nature or nurture?
Interaction of nature and nurture: Children’s personalities and skills contribute to their development
Bronfenbrenner || continuous or discontinuous?
Not indicated
Bronfenbrenner || active or passive?
Active: influences are bidirectional: systems influence the child, and vice versa.
Sociocultural theory [Lev Vygotsky] core concepts
Children internalized sociocultural dialogue developing problem-solving skills
Vygotsky || nature or nurture?
Interaction of nature and nurture:Nurture is discussed social and cultural terms
Vygotsky || continuous or discontinuous?
Continuous: Children learn in the zone with experienced members of a culture thereby accumulating knowledge and skills
Vygotsky || is child active or passive?
Both: children seek to develop problem solving abilities by internalizing cultural dialogues, but the dialogues originate externally
