theories Flashcards
piagets theory
suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.
what is a schema
a schema is both the category of knowledge as well as the process of acquiring that knowledge.
piagets schemas
assimilation
equilibrium
disequilibrium
accommodation
assimilation
fully understanding information or ideas.
set schema about something
equilibrium
experiences that schema
fits the understanding
disequilibrium
a new experience disturbs that childs schema and confuses them
accommodation
childs understanding changes to take account of new experience
develop new schema
piagets stages
sensorimotor 0-2
pre-operational 2-7
concrete operational 7-11
formal operational 11-18
sensorimotor stage 0-2
learn about environment and create schemas using all senses to physically explore world
pre-operational stage 2-7
begin to control their environment using symbolic behaviour - includes representational words, drawings and pretend play
but cant think logically
concrete operational 7-11
use practical resources to help them understand the world e.g counters for maths
they classify, categorise and use logic to understand things they see
formal operational 11-18
have capacity for abstract thought, rational thought and problem solving
who critics piaget
vygotsky
bandura
bruner
what are piagets critics
vygotsky- support of parents, caregivers, peers and the wider society and culture plays a crucial role in the development
Bruner- Say that adults play a role is assisting a child learning and Cognitive development can be sped up
piaget underestimated childrens development and with support can be moved onto next stage
too fixed
conservation
refers to children’s understanding that the amount remains the same even when the containers shape has changed
used tests with solids, weighs, numbers.
egocentrism
believed that until the age of 7, children only see things from their own perspective/point of view.
think people feel the same way as them
what did piagets conservation test show
- children under 7 cant conserve cause they cant think about more than 1 aspect of a situation at 1 time
- by the operational stage at 7, they can think logically so understand that the quantity of water is same in a different container
chomskys theory
believed all people are pre-programmed to learn language and have an LAD that allows them to produce and acquire language.
main points of chomskys theory
- born with a structure in brain to acquire language
- all follow same pattern of language development
- have an innate understanding of structure of language that is the basis for all languages
critics of chomsky
- lack of scientific evidence of LAD existing
- didn’t take into account social interaction or children with learning diabilities/difficulties
- put emphasis on grammar rather than meaning
who critics chomsky and why ?
skinner - says language is learned and not innate/born with
bowlbys attachment theory
infants are biologically pre-programmed to form attachments - will help them survive.
positive attachment is essential for future development
infancy is a crucial period for attachment to form.
bowlbys maternal deprivation hypothesis :
suggests continual disruption of attachment between infants and primary care giver could result in long term cognitive, emotional and social difficulties.
who critics bowlby
rutter
rutters critic against bowlby :
- bowlby oversimplifies his theory
- argues that its much more damaging to have never built attachments (privation) than to have built attachments and have them taken away (deprivation)
critics of bowlby:
Just mother?
Studies of children who never had bonding with mother but still formed successful attachments and well in future
failure to recognise the profound influences of social class, gender, ethnicity, and culture on personality development
who backs up bowlby
mary ainsworth
- attachment theorist
what was ainsworths study
the strange situation
what is the strange situation
puts baby in a room with a stranger and the mother leaves then returns to see the baby’s reaction
discovered different reactions for attachment styles
- result of early interaction with mother
ainsworths 3 attachment styles
- secure
- insecure avoidant
- insecure ambivalent/resistant
- disorganised was later discovered
secure attachment
- distressed when mother leaves but happy when she returns
- avoidant of stranger when alone but friendly when moms around
insecure resistant/ambivalent
- intense distress when mother leaves
- approaches mom on return but resist contact
-infant avoids stranger and can show fear
insecure avoidant
- no sign of distress when mother leaves
- shows little interest when mom returns
- infant is okay with stranger and plays normally when shes around
shaffer and emerson theory
attachment is most likely to form with those who responded accurately to the babys signals, not the person they spent the most time with.
called this sensitive responsiveness
had 4 types of attachment
shaffer and ermersons 4 attachments:
- Asocial 0-6w
- indiscriminate attachment 6w-7m
- specific attachment 7-9m
- multiple attachment 10m+
asocial attachment 0-6w
- they are asocial in many kinds of stimuli
- both social and non-social
- produce a favourite reaction such as a smile
indiscriminate attachment 6w-7m
- infants indiscriminately enjoy human company
- respond equally to any caregiver
- they get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them
specific attachment 7-9m
- special preference for a certain attachment figure
- looks to particular people for comfort,security and protection.
- shows fear and unhappiness when separated from a special person
multiple attachments 10m+
- made multiple attachments by 10months
- baby becomes increasingly dependent and forms several attachments
- show stranger fear and separation anxiety much more frequently
critics of ainsworth
doesn’t take into account reasons for poor attachment
piaget - 6 types of play
- solo play 0-1 year
- solo play 12-18m
- parallel play 18m-2y
- associative play 3-4y
- co-operative play 4-6y
- co-operative play 6-8y
solo play 0-1y
- child looks at adults closely
- puts things in mouth and touches things with hands
- plays alone with toys and explores
- begins to play simple games e.g peek a boo
solo play 12-18m
- begins to play and talk alone
- repeats actions
- starts to play with adults
- notices other children
parallel play 18-2y
- begins to enjoy repetitive actions such as putting objects into and taking them out of boxes
- begins to copy other children and adults
- enjoys playing with adults as well as on own
- completes tasks through trial and error
associative play 3-4y
- begins to co-operatively play with other children
- show reasoning skill by asking questions e.g why? and how?
- join in pretend and fantasy games, negotiating and taking on roles
co-operative play 4-6y
- use simple rules in games
- plays co-operatively towards a shared goal
- takes turns when playing table top games with others
co-operative play 6-8y
- begins to enjoy playing in small groups
- makes up own games and rules
- enjoys understanding and using rules
- does not cope well with losing
critics of piagets play
Piaget may have underestimated the development of young children.
banduras social learning theory
suggests that learning happens through observing, imitating and modelling behaviours of others
has 4 stages
banduras 4 stages
- attention
- retention
- reproduction
- motivation
attention stage
- pays attention to model for learning
retention
- remembers model for imitating behaviour
reproduction
- must have capacity (e.g skills) for imitating behaviour
- perform and practice behaviour
motivation
- must be motivated to imitate behaviour
(e. g rewards, praise, certificate)
this is where reinforcement comes in
banduras reinforcement
- positive
- negative
- vicarious
positive reinforcement
- more likely to do it again
- had positive response such as been praised, gifted or rewarded etc
- encourages them
negative reinforcement
- not likely to do it again
- has a negative response such as been ignored, punished or told of
- prevent them for doing it again
vicarious response
occurs when an individual observes another person behave in a certain way and experience a consequence perceived as desirable by the observer- as a result, the observer behaves as the model did
what was banduras experiment called
Bobo doll experiment
Bobo doll experiment:
children where put in a room to watch a video
- being nice to doll
- being aggressive to doll
- not doing anything to doll
after video: they put the same bobo doll in the room with them and see how they reacted to it
- if they saw aggression to doll on video, they was aggressive to doll in person
crictics of banduras theory:
- piaget
learning occurs in stages via the development of schemas - biological theorists
ignores biological states and autonomic nervous system responses. not only learned but partly inherited
e.g mental illness, physical illness, learning diability
who critics banduras theory:
- piaget
- biological theorists
gesells maturation theory :
- development is genetically determined
- all children follow the same pattern of growth
- at their own pace - influenced by internal factors such as physical and mental development and genetics.
- all move through same set sequence but at different rates
- if a child experienced delayed development - it had to be heredity
what did gesell develop in his theory? :
milestones and/or the norms
gesells 18m- 4 1/2y milestone
- child experiences temper tantrums
- emotional outbursts
- become more easy-going
gesells 5-8y milestone
- child becomes confident in who they are
- can make friends
- at 7, they become fearful
- become outgoing
gesells 9-17 milestone
- displays worries and anxiety during the odd numbered years e.g 13, 15
- but positive and energetic on even number years e.g 14, 16
who critics gesell
- piaget
critics of gesells maturation theory
- piaget
children are influences more by the environment there in and develop using schemas and stages - did not consider individual or cultural differences between children
- research suggests milestones are wrong as babies can follow objects at earlier stage
cummings and henry
social disengagement theory
- people naturally withdraw for society as they age.
- society also withdraws from older people as they become more independent
- can be because of awareness of death, reduced social bubble and abilities deteriating
who critics cumming and henrys social disengagement theory
- havighursts activity theory
havighursts activity theory
- the social and psychological needs of individuals remain the same
- older people still need activity an social interaction so they can adjust to their new situation and continue to be involved in society
- older people are happiest when they remain active and maintain social interaction
critics of havighurst
- overlooks inequalities in health and economics that stop elderly people to engage in such activities (mobility decline)
- some adults don’t want to engage in new things
- social disengagement theory
holmes rahe
social adjustment rating scale
-suggests there is a relationships between stressful events and psychological illness
- the more life events = the more stress
the more stress = the higher chance of illness
critics of holmes rahe rating scale
stress diathesis model
- suggests it doesn’t take biological factors into account
e. g mental illness, learning disabilities, genetics
stress diathesis model:
-an explanation that a disorder/behaviour trait is a result of an interaction between genetic predisposition and stress caused by life events and factors
- suggests both nurture and nature play a part in psychological illness.
e. g genetics and life events
