Theories of Development Flashcards
An explanation for events/behaviour
Theory
An organized set of ideas designed to explain/make predictions about development.
Child Development Theory
What CDT did John Locke believe in
Tabula Rasa, children are born as blank slates.
What do early childhood development theories try to explain?
Nature vs. Nurture
What CDT did Rousseau believe in?
Maturation
Define nature/nurture
To what extent is development determined by biology/our environment
Define maturation
Children develop according to a biological plan.
Which theory has an evolutionary perspective on development? (such as survival techniques)
Ethological Theory.
What is the name for the window of learning for a child (biological perspective)
Critical Period
What are the strengths of CDTs with biological perspectives?
They play attention to patterns in genetics and the brains role in development.
What are the criticisms of CDTs with biological perspectives?
They don’t address the differences in environment that each child faces.
Which theorists believed in the psychosocial perspective?
- John Locke
- Sigmund Freud
- Erikson
What CDT did Freud believe in
Development is determined by how well people resolve conflicts at certain ages /3 levels of consciousness
What are Freud’s 3 levels of consciousness?
-Id, Ego, Superego (develop through age)
What is Freud’s Id
Level of consciousness that requires immediate gratification for bodily desires (food, sleep, sex)
What is Freud’s ego
Level of consciousness that is rational, logical and finds a compromise.
What is Freud’s superego
Level of consciousness responsible for moral reasoning.
What CDT did Erikson believe in?
8 stages of psychosocial development
What are Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development
- Trust vs Mistrust
- Autonomy vs Shame/Doubt
- Initiative vs. Guilt
- Industry vs. Inferiority
- Identity vs. Confusion
- Intimacy vs. Isolation
- Generativity vs. Stagnation
- Integrity vs. Despair
What is the strength of Freud and Erikson’s psychosocial theories?
- Stimulate future theory development
- Address development across lifespan
What is the criticism for Freud and Erikson’s psychosocial theories?
Freud: unscientific, unprovable,
Erikson: lacks cross-cultural application.
Who was responsible for classical conditioning?
Ivan Pavlov
What is classical conditioning?
A learning perspective where one learns to associate an unconditioned stimulus’ response with a conditioned stimulus (jim and dwight on the office).
What three components does classical conditioning require?
- Unconditioned stimulus
- Unconditioned response
- Neutral stimulus
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
a stimulus that automatically produces a response
What is an unconditioned response?
the automatic reaction caused by an unconditioned stimulus
What is a neutral stimulus?
a stimulus that does not automatically invoke a response.
Through classical conditioning, what does the neutral stimulus become?
A conditioned stimulus with a conditioned response
What must happen for classical conditioning to work?
Unconditioned stimulus and neutral stimulus must occur repeatedly at the same time so the mind associates one of their responses with both of them.
Is classical conditioning unlearnable?
Yes, if the conditioned response is presented without the unconditioned response enough times, the conditioned reaction will no longer occur.
Who first applied classical conditioning to humans through experimentation?
John Watson
What was John Watson’s famous experiment
Little Albert Experiment, a baby learned to associate the sight of a rat with the sound of a loud bell and became scared of the rat.
What does John Watson’s Little Albert experiment prove?
That fear is not biological but is be taught (tabula rasa)
What are the strengths of classical conditioning?
- Scientific: provides empirical evidence.
- reductionist: breaks down complex behaviour
What are the criticisms of classical conditioning?
- Deterministic: does not allow for free will
- Reductionist: lacks validity/incomplete explanations
Who is responsible for operant conditioning?
BF Skinner
What is operant conditioning?
Learning perspective that says we learn based off the consequences of our actions, positive and negative.
What does reinforcement do
increases likelihood of future behaviour.
What does positive reinforcement do
Increases behaviour because it is followed by a reward/ (giving someone a gold star on a test done well).
What does negative reinforcement do
Increases behaviour because the behaviour stops something negative (taking an antacid before a spicy meal)
What do you call a negative consequence that reduces the likelihood of future behaviour
a punishment
What are the two types of punishments
1) to suppress, 2) to withhold
What does a suppression punishment entail?
Suppresses behaviour by imposing something negative
What does a withholding punishment entail?
Withholding something positive.
What is found to be more effective than punishment in promoting good behaviour?
Reinforcements (punishments don’t explain desired behaviour)
What are the components of operant conditioning?
Punishment vs. reinforcement
What are the strengths of operant conditioning?
- Explains wide variety of behaviours
- Has practical/real-world applications
What are the criticisms of operant conditioning?
- Doesn’t consider cognitive factors.
- Suggests learning only occurs through external reinforcements.
Who is responsible for social cognitive theory?
Albert Bandura
What is the social cognitive theory?
Children learn by observing others and observing/assessing the reward/punishment of their actions.
What are the factors that Bandura said would influence the likelihood of a child to imitate behaviour?
- If behaviour is rewarded in front of them (or lacks consequences)
- When actor is popular/smart/similar to them
- When behaviours align with their own talents
What is the word for the belief we have about our own abilities and talents
Self-efficacy
What was Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment
A group of children were divided in two, half observed an adult being aggresive with a bobo doll and half didn’t, then bandura watched to see if the children would mimic the adult’s behaviour.
What did Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment result in?
Some of the children mimicked the adult’s behaviour with the doll, but some didn’t.
What did the Bobo Doll experiment conclude?
Observational learning definitely exists but children do not always do exactly as they’re shown.
What is the strength of social cognitive theory?
It’s a comprehensive approach to learning
What is the criticism of social cognitive theory?
- Does not explain all behaviours
- Dependent heavily on role models.
Who saw children as “little scientists” trying to make sense of the world?
Jean Piaget
What do you call a mental representation of our knowledge?
A schema
What do you call it when new knowledge fits into our existing schema?
assimilation
What do you call it when new knowledge contradicts/modifies our current schema?
Accomodation
Who is responsible for cognitive-developmental theory?
Jean piaget
What are the 4 stages of cognitive-developmental theory?
- Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years)
- Preoperational stage (2-7 years)
- Concrete operational stage (7-11 years)
- Formal operational stage (11+)
What 2 things occur during the sensorimotor phase (0-2 years) (cognitive-developmental theory)
- Object permanence (objects still exist when out of view)
- Use of symbols (words/gestures/pretend play)
What 3 things occur during the preoperational phase (2-7 years) ( cognitive-developmental theory)
- Egocentrism
- Animism
- Centration
What is egocentrism
Difficulty seeing the world from another point of view
What is an example of egocentrism
nodding while on the phone with someone, even though the other person can’t see.
What is animism
To credit inanimate objects with lifelike personalities
What is an example of animism
Dropping a toy on the ground and apologizing to it.
What is centration?
Narrowly focused thought, focusing only on what stands out visually and not thinking deeper.
What is an example of centration?
When the contents of one of two equal glasses is poured into a skinnier, taller glass and the child thinks they now have two different amounts of water because the water goes to different heights.
What happens during the concrete operational phase (7-11 years) ( cognitive-developmental theory)
Mental operations:
- Ability to use reason to problem solve
- Understand conversation/math
- Can think concretely (black/white) but not abstractly
What occurs during the formal operational phase (11+ years) ( cognitive-developmental theory)
Deductive reasoning:
- Drawing appropriate conclusions from facts
- Develop moral reasoning
- Can think hypothetically/abstractly
What are the strengths of cognitive-developmental theory?
- Pays attention to cognitive development
- Constructivism: considers children to be active agents in their understanding of the world.
What are the criticisms of cognitive-developmental theory?
- Underestimates infants, overestimates adults.
- Stage model so doesn’t account for how flexible humans are.
- Lack of attention to the socio-cultural environment.
Who is responsible for the sociocultural perspective?
Lev Vygotsky
What did Lev Vygotsky believe about development?
Cognitive development depends on social interaction + culture.
What is guided participation (socio-cultural perspective)
Cognitive growth = children’s involvement in structured activities with those who are more skilled.
What are the three components of sociocultural perspective
- zone of proximal development
- scaffolding
- private speech
What is the zone of proximal development (socio-cultural perspective)
Difference between what children achieve with help vs. alone
What is scaffolding (socio-cultural perspective)
teaching style that matches assistance level to the learner’s needs.
What is private speech
talking to yourself to help regulate behaviour.
What are the strengths of socio-cultural perspective
- Sees learning as a cooperative/collaborative activity
- Collaboration between expert/novice
What are the criticisms of socio-cultural perspective
- Fewer testable hypotheses
- Less cross-cultural relevance
What does Bronfenbrenner’s theory of ecological systems show (contextual perspectives)
- Development is influenced by environment.
- Individuals are active.
- Bio characteristics influence environment (gender influences style of teaching used)
What are the stages of Bronfenbrenner’s Theory of ecological systems (contextual perspectives)
- Microsystem
- Mesosystem
- Exosystem
- Macrosystem
- Chronosystem
What is the microsystem (contextual perspectives)
- The people/objects that are closest to us (we can have multiple in our lives)
- Ex. home/school
What is the mesosystem (contextual perspectives)
- Interconnections between microsystems.
- Ex. a parent having a bad day at work and being in a bad mood at home.
What is an exosystem (contextual perspectives)
- Social setting you don’t experience firsthand, but influences them.
- Ex. A parent’s bad mood at work affecting the child when they are at home.
What is the macrosystem (contextual perspectives)
- Broad/cultural societal influences
- Ex. technology, individualism vs. collectivism.
What is chronosystem (contextual perspectives)
- The dimension of change in systems overtime (micro to macro change)
- Ex. divorce, older sibling moving out, parenting through the ages.
