theories of development Flashcards
what are two theories for how development occurs?
continuous and stage like
how is development continuous?
continuous from childhood to adulthood
children do not qualitatively differ from adults- just have less knowledge
how is development stage like?
development from childhood to adulthood occurs in a number of stages
children and adults are qualitatively different psychologically
what does nature suggest about development?
development is a product of genetic inheritance
what does nurture suggest about development?
development is a product of the environment and experience
what is behaviourism?
argues that psychological phenomena can only be explained by focusing on behaviour, and the environment in which it occurs
what is radical empiricism?
the idea that experience is the source of all knowledge
what is nativism?
mental structures are innate, not learnt
what is the idea of the ‘black box’?
can observe input and output, but can’t tell what is going on inside the mind
what is reinforcement?
method of learning behaviour by manipulating a stimulus presentation after the desired behaviour
what is shaping behaviour?
gradually training an organism to produce a specific response by reinforcing responses which resemble the desirable response
what is successive approximation?
successful response that comes closer to the desired response
what is comparitive psychology?
studying similarities and differences amongst living beings
how does behaviourism relate to child development?
shaping behaviour occurs by successive approximation
eg) baby learning to talk- this initiates excitement from an adult so they are likely to continue
who proposed nativism and maturation?
Chomsky
what does nativism and maturation suggest about development?
behaviour is genetically determined
innate knowledge of language/deep structure
same mechanisms in child and adult behaviour
what is deep structure?
innate grammatical structuring of language that is universal and unique to humans
who proposed evolution and ethology?
Lorenz
what does evolution and ethology suggest about development?
imprinting occurs at birth
has a critical period of 10-30 hours
biological preparedness
maturational unfolding and stages- genetically determined developmental progression
what is imprinting?
process of attachment a baby animal forms with the first thing they encounter at birth
what is biological preparedness?
genetically determined readiness to learn specific skills like walking
who proposed evolution and attachment?
Bowlby and Ainsworth
what does evolution and attachment suggest about development?
attachment is a natural process under maturation control
separation distress- evidence of attachment
disruption of this process= detrimental consequences
who proposed constructivism?
Piaget
what does constructivism suggest about development?
knowledge is actively generated rather than transmitted through genes
development= nature and nurture
occurs in stages- need to shed previous cognitive limitations to progress
what is egocentrism?
part of stage like development
difficulty considering another person’s perspective
what do humans need to adjust to and how is this prevented?
human environment
physical environment
prevented by egocentrism
what are Piaget’s 4 stages of development?
sensorimotor
preoperational
concrete operational
formal operational
what age is the sensorimotor stage?
0-2 years
what age is the preoperational stage?
2-7 years
what age is the concrete operational stage?
7-12 years
what age is the formal operational stage?
12+ years
what are the characteristics of the sensorimotor stage?
fail to discriminate between self and surroundings
lack of mental imagery
solipsism
don’t have object permanence
perception subordinate to action
what is mental imagery?
ability to imagine the existence of things even when they are not directly accessible to the senses
what is solipsism?
fail to distinguish between self and the rest of the universe
what is object permanence?
understand that things continue to exist even when we can’t sense them directly
which approaches to development are continuous?
nativism
behaviourism
which approaches to development are stage like?
ethology
constructivism
which approaches to development are on the side of nature?
nativism
ethology
which approach to development is both nature and nurture?
constructivism
which approach to development is based on nurture?
behaviourism
