Week One

Question 1

developmental psychology

Answer 1

Developmental psychology is the field of study that explores patterns of stability, continuity, growth and change that occur throughout a person’s life.

Question 2

broad domains of development - physical

Answer 2

○ The growth of the body and its organs, the functioning of physiological systems including the brain, physical signs of ageing, changes in motor abilities etc.
The growth element of the definition.

Question 3

cognitive development

Answer 3

Changes and continuities in perception, language, learning, memory, problem solving and other mental processes

Question 4

psychosocial development

Answer 4

○ Changes and continuities in personal and interpersonal aspects such as motives, emotion, personality traits, interpersonal skills, relationships and roles played in the family and in society
○ How do relationships shift?
How do personalities emerge?

Question 5

pre-natal period

Answer 5

conception to birth

Question 6

infancy

Answer 6

birth- 2

Question 7

early childhood

Answer 7

2-5/6 (pre-school period)

Question 8

middle childhood

Answer 8

6-12

Question 9

adolescence

Answer 9

12-20

Question 10

middle adulthood

Answer 10

40-65

Question 11

late adulthood

Answer 11

65+

Question 12

nature vs nurture

Answer 12

• Both influence one another.
• NATURE
  
  • Heredity
  • Maturation
  • Genes
  • Innate predispositions
• NURTURE
  
  • Environment
  • Learning
  • Experience
  • Cultural influences

Question 13

continuity vs discontinuity

Answer 13

Are changes across the lifespan gradual or abrupt?

Question 14

universality vs context specific

Answer 14

• It is important to recognize that we look at issues from a Western point of view.
• To what extent are developmental changes common to all humans?
  Do they differ across cultures, subcultures, task contexts or individuals?

Question 15

activity vs passivity

Answer 15

• Are humans active in creating and influencing their own environments and, in the process, producing their own development?
• Or are we passively shaped by forces largely beyond our control?

Question 16

theories of development

Answer 16

• psychodynamic approach (freud & erikson)
• learning theories (pavlov, watson, skinner, Bandura)
• cognitive developmental approach (piaget, vygostsky)
• contextual theories (breonfrenbrenner)

Question 17

what is a good theory?

Answer 17

• A good theory is falsifiable
• Should be internally consistent
• Generally based on results or data
  The above are influential theories, not great theories.
• All of the theories contribute to our understanding
• No single theory provides the complete answer
• Reliance on a single theory can lead to false assumptions

Question 18

freudian theory

Answer 18

• 1856-1939
• People are driven by motives and emotional conflicts which they are largely unaware.
• People’s lives are shaped by their earliest experiences.
• Largely focused on childhood and infancy.
• Freud’s structure of personality
  
  • Id- pleasure principle, driven by instinct, fits below consciousness (infancy).
  • Ego- reality principle, developed shortly after birth,
  • Superego- conscience, developed in the childhood period, learned ethical and moral standards. These are learned through unconscious development.

Question 19

stages of psychosexual development

Answer 19

diagram

Question 20

psychosexual theory

Answer 20

• Argued that issues in early stages of the development can link to issues in adulthood.
  Held that in the phallic period, the child is drawn to the parent of the opposite sex and as such faces a conflict and therefore to fix this they begin to identify with the parent of the same sex. We then develop this parents superego and their understandings of right and wrong.

Question 21

erikson’s psychosocial theory

Answer 21

• Influenced by Freud.
• Erik Erikson (1902-1994)
• Dialectical conflict as the basic mechanism of development
• Emphasis on social influences, such as peers, family, school etc.
  Emphasis on rational and active resolution of conflicts
  ALSO SEE DIAGRAM

Question 22

classical conditioning

Answer 22

• Ivan Pavlov (1849 -1936)
• Conditioned/unconditioned response
• Conditioned/unconditioned stimulus
• Reflex learning

Question 23

operant conditioning

Answer 23

• B. F. Skinner (1904 - 1991)
• Operant conditioning
• Reinforcement strengthens response
• Can be positive or negative
• Punishment weakens response
• Can be positive or negative

Question 24

social cognitive theory

Answer 24

• Albert Bandura (1925-
• Observational learning
• Imitation
• Modelling
• Vicarious reinforcement
• Bobo doll experiment
  
  • Kids saw an adult beating a bobo doll.
  • Some of them had praise, punishment or neutral responses.
  • Found that those that found praise were more aggressive.
  • Punished were less aggressive.
  • Argument that all children learned from the adult model but learned to repress them appropriately depending on the reinforcement.

Question 25

piagat’s cognitive theory

Answer 25

• Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980)
• Children actively construct new understandings of the world based on their experiences
• Cognitive stage theory
• Sensorimotor
• Preoperational
• Concrete operational
• Formal operational
  ALSO SEE DIAGRAM

Question 26

learning schemes

Answer 26

• Direct learning (schemes)
  
  • Assimilation
    ○ New information fits into existing schemes
  • Accommodation
    ○ Changing schemes to incorporate new information or ideas
  • Adaptation

Question 27

Vygostksy

Answer 27

• Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
• Cultural nature of human development
• Culture as a tool ‘within’ person
• Social interaction drives cognitive development
• Zone of Proximal Development

Question 28

Bronfrenbrenner

Answer 28

• Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917- 2005)
• Microsystem
• Face-to-face interactions
• Mesosystem
• Connections between microsystems
• Exosystem
• Indirect influences
• Macrosystem
• General aspects of society