week 2 - Historical and conceptual issues

Question 1

What are the four aspects of developmental psychology?

Answer 1

personality and individual differences, cognitive, neuropsychological/ physiological, and social/cultural differences.

Question 2

What is the general interest in developmental psychology?

Answer 2

How do we develop into who we are?

Question 3

Child research began with what?

Answer 3

Diary studies.

Question 4

What is a longitudinal design?

Answer 4

Following the development of children over a long period of time.

Question 5

What are some pros and cons of longitudinal design?

Answer 5

Pros - controls for many confounding variables,

cons - time-consuming, child withdrawal

Question 6

What is a cross-sectional design?

Answer 6

Study over a variety of ages and both genders, usually having them do the same task.

Question 7

What are the pros and cons of a cross-sectional design?

Answer 7

pros - large quantity of information and large number of participants.
cons - how representative is the sample? Can we really compare two groups?

Question 8

One of the first individuals to study child development was who?

Answer 8

Charles Darwin

Question 9

Darwin developed one of the first methods for studying children, what was it?

Answer 9

baby biography

Question 10

Darwin’s evolutionary theory still influences many aspects of modern developmental research, such as…

Answer 10

attachments, innate fears, sex differences, aggression and learning.

Question 11

What did Albert Binet do for developmental psychology?

Answer 11

investigated children’s intelligence and began developing standardised tests in 1900. Was commissioned to identify students who needed educational assistance and developed the concept of mental age.

Question 12

The Stanford-Binet test tested what 5 factors of cognitive ability?

Answer 12

fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitive reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory.

Question 13

What did Ivan Pavlov do for developmental psychology?

Answer 13

Introduced behaviourism, found all behaviour is learned, classical conditioning.

Question 14

Explain Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis (1950s).

Answer 14

Explained social, linguistic, and cognitive impairments in orphanages due to lack of emotional warmth•‘Failure to thrive’. Critical period of attachment from birth to age 3.

Question 15

What did Albert Bandura do for developmental psychology?

Answer 15

Bobo’s dolls- children learn from watching other children.

Question 16

What did Jean Piaget do for developmental psychology?

Answer 16

Piaget’s stage theories of cognitive development. The child is born with structures ready to absorb knowledge.

Question 17

What did Lev Vygotsky do for developmental psychology?

Answer 17

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development. The child develops understanding through his/her interaction with the world.

Question 18

What did Plato argue in the nature vs nurture debate?

Answer 18

People are born with innate knowledge (nature).

Question 19

What is one way we can gather information on the nature v nurture debate?

Answer 19

Twin studies.

Question 20

Explain The English – Romanian Adoption Study (ERA).

Answer 20

Compared development of Romanian orphans adopted by British parents to British orphans adopted by British parents. With children adopted before 6 months, there was no difference in developmental, from 12 months to 2 years Romanian orphans began to fall behind in several categories, as age continued to go up differences became more several and delays often carried into adulthood.

Question 21

The Social Learning Theory was proposed by?

Answer 21

Bandura.

Question 22

Supernanny’s “Naughty Step” is based on what theory?

Answer 22

Pavlov’s theory of behaviourism.