Week 2

Question 1

5 major categories of theoretical perspectives on lifespan human development

Answer 1

1. psychoanalytic theories
2. behaviorist
3. social learning theories
4. cognitive theory
5. systems theory

Question 2

Pyschoanalytic theories

2 major theories

Answer 2

development and behavior as a result of inner drives, memories, conflicts we are unaware of and cannot control

1. Freud’s psychosexual theory
2. Erikson’s psychosocial theory

Question 3

Freud’s psychosexual theory

psychoanalytic

Answer 3

behavior is driven by unconscious impulses outside our awareness

focused on different parts of the body, wherein stimulation results in pleasure

Question 4

Erikson’s psychosocial theory

psychoanalytic

Answer 4

• focuses on the role of the social world in shaping sense of self
• each stage presents a crisis or conflict that must be resolved

Question 5

2 major behaviorist and social learning theories

Answer 5

1. behaviorism (Watson): examines observable behavior
2. social learning theory (Bandura): actively process observable information; thoughts and feelings influence future behavior

social learning integrates behaviorist learning and information processing theories

Question 6

2 forms of behaviorist learning

Answer 6

1. Pavlov’s classical conditioning
2. Skinner’s operant conditioning

• forming association between environmental stimuli and physiological response
• behavior becomes more/less probable depending on its consequences

Question 7

Bandura’s social learning theory

Answer 7

• observational learning: people learn through observing and imitating models
• reciprocal determinism: individual and environment interact and influence each other

Question 8

Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory

Answer 8

• children as active explorers that use their ability to think to understand the world
• organization of learning into cognitive schemas (concepts, ideas, ways of interacting with the world)

discontinuous!

Question 9

Systems theory

Answer 9

• emphasizes role of social context in development
• people are inseperable from familial, neighborhood, societal contexts in which they live

Question 10

Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory

Answer 10

development is the result of interactions between biological, cognitive, socioemotional changes within individuals (i.e. ontogenic development) and their changing contexts

Question 11

Evolutionary developmental theory

Answer 11

genetic programs and biological predispositions interact with physical and social environment to influence development

• applies principles of evolution and scientific knowledge
• ethology: scientific study of evolutionary basis of behavior
• both continuous and discontinous