Download B. Organismic Model

Theory and Research
Two Big Questions
I. Is Development Active or Passive?
A. Mechanistic Model: people are like machines that react to
environmental input (and activated genetic predispositions).
B. Organismic Model: people are active growing organisms
that set their own development in motion.
II. Is Development Continuous or Does It
Occur in Stages?
A. Mechanistic theorists...
1. Quantitative (Continuous) Change: incremental
changes that build on each other leading to constant
psychological growth.
B. Organismic theorists
2. Qualitative (Discontinuous) Change: changes occur in
a series of distinct stages. At each new stage, people are
able to deal with entirely different problems with entirely
new abilities.
Five Theoretical Perspectives of Human
Development
I. Psychoanalytic Perspective: Sigmund Freud
A. Libido: a psychosexual energy.
B. Personality
1) Id: the part that is comprised of all of our biological drives that
demand immediate gratification.
2) Ego: the rational, negotiating, and decision-making component of
the personality.
3) Superego: the internalized values and rules we receive from our
parents and society.
II. Psychosocial Perspective: Erik Erikson
When the conflict is resolved in a positive and constructive manner,
the person moves into the next stage of development in a
psychologically healthy state. If the conflict is not resolved, the
negative effects will most likely carry over into future stages, and
have a detrimental effect on the challenges that are yet to be faced.
III. Learning Perspective: changes in behavior
result from experience or adaptation to the
environment.
A. Learning Theory 1: Behaviorism: a mechanistic theory
that describes observed behavior as a predictable response
to experience.
1) Classical Conditioning: Learning based on association
of a stimulus that does not ordinarily elicit a particular
response with another stimulus that does elicit the response.
Applies to involuntary responses.
2) Operant Conditioning: Learning based on association
of behavior with its consequences. The individual learns
from the consequences of “operating” in the environment.
Applies to voluntary responses.
Behaviorism:
Classical Conditioning
John Watson: Conditioning of Fear
Orphan boy ‘Little Albert’
– 1. Albert liked the furry rat
– 2. Rat presented with loud CRASH!
– 3. Albert cried because of
noise
– 4. Eventually, site of rat
made Albert cry
Operant Conditioning:
Reinforcement
Increases likelihood of behavior
reoccurring
Positive: Giving a reward
Candy for finishing a task
Negative: Removing something aversive
No chores for getting an A+ on homework
Operant Conditioning:
Punishment
Decreases likelihood of behavior
reoccurring
Positive: Adding something aversive
Extra Chores
Negative: Removing something pleasant
Taking away car keys
B. Learning Theory 2: Social Learning
1) Social Learning: we learn about many behaviors before we attempt
them for the first time by observing the behaviors of others and from
imagining the consequences of our own.
Bandura’s
“Bobo” Doll Study
2) Self-Efficacy in Social Learning: we tend to imitate people we
admire and who are perceived as similar to us in some fashion.
IV. Cognitive Perspective
A. Jean Piaget’s Cognitive-Stage Theory: He tried to
understand how children cognitively develop through the
mistakes they make.
1) Schema: a concept or framework that organizes and
interprets information.
2) Assimilation: we interpret new experiences in terms of
our existing schemas.
3) Accommodation: we adapt our current understandings
(schemas) to incorporate new and different information.
B. Jean Piaget’s 4 Stages
1) Sensorimotor: experiencing the world through our senses
and our actions, such as looking, touching, tasting, etc., (age
0 to 2).
Lack of…
Object Permanence: the awareness that objects continue to
exist even when not perceived.
2) Pre-operational: representing things with words and
images, but lacking logical reasoning (age 2 to 6).
Kids realize that they exist, understand time, and the permanence of
objects, but they do not understand the...
Conservation of Mass: the understanding that physical properties
do not change when nothing is added or taken away, even though
appearances may change.
They suffer from…
Egocentrism: the inability to take another person’s physical view.
3) Concrete Operational: the ability to think logically about
concrete events and engage in inductive reasoning. The
ability to do basic math and understand the conservation of
mass (age 7 to 11).
4) Formal Operational: engage in abstract reasoning and
deductive reasoning. Capable of moral and ethical thought
(age 11 and up).
C. The Information-Processing approach: cognitive
development is continuous and improvements are due to agerelated increases in speed, complexity, and efficiency of
mental processing and increases in information storage
capacity.
1) Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development: the
distance between what a child can do alone and what a
child can do with assistance from others.
2) Scaffolding: temporary support to help a child master a
task.
V. Evolutionary Perspective: Charles Darwin
Darwin argued that all species shared a remote common
ancestor and over time we broke off into separate species.
Different characteristics of a species may be more or less
adaptable in particular environments. Those that were more
adaptable continued into future generations while the
maladaptive ones died off.
Developmentally, certain behaviors are more adaptable at
certain stages of development.
Research Methods
I. Methodological Concepts
A. Quantitative Research: focuses on “hard” data and
numerical or statistical measures.
B. Qualitative Research: focuses on non-numerical data such
as subjective experiences, feelings, beliefs, etc...
C. Theory: an explanation or model created from a great many
observations and capable of making valid predictions or
hypotheses.
D. Falsifiable: stated in such clear, precise terms that we can
see what evidence would count against it.
E. Hypothesis: a tentative explanation for an observation that
can be tested through research.
II. Basic Research Designs
A. Case Study: a thorough description of the person,
including the person’s abilities and disabilities, medical
conditions, life history, unusual experiences, or whatever
else seems relevant.
B. Ethnographic Studies: an in-depth examination of the
patterns of relationships, customs, beliefs, technology, arts,
and traditions that make up a society’s way of life.
C. Correlational Study: a procedure in which investigators
measure the correlation between 2 variables without
controlling for either of them.
1) Correlation: a measured relationship between 2 variables.
2) Correlation Coefficient: a mathematical estimate of the
relationship between 2 variables: The range is –1 to +1.
D. Experiment: a study in which the investigator manipulates at
least one variable while measuring at least one other variable.
1) Independent Variable: the item that the experimenter
manipulates to get an effect.
2) Dependent Variable: the item that the experimenter
measures to see if the independent variable had an effect.
3) Experimental Group: group that receives the treatment
(Independent Variable) that an experiment is designed to test.
4) Control Group: group that is treated just like the
experimental group, but does not receive the treatment.
5) Random Assignment: experimenter uses some random
process of assigning people to each group.
III. Scientific Method: the way in which
scientists go about investigating and making
claims about phenomena.
A. Hypothesis: a tentative explanation for an observation that
can be tested through research.
B. Method: the process by which you test your hypothesis.
C. Results: the recorded outcome of the method.
D. Interpretation: your evaluation of the results.
E. Replicability: the ability for other people to replicate
previous results through further experimentation using the
same procedures.
F. Operational Definitions: a definition that specifies the
procedures used to produce or measure something.
IV. Sampling
A. Population: the entire group of people to be considered.
B. Sample: a small number of people taken from the
population.
1) Convenience Sample: a sample that can include anyone.
2) Representative Sample: a sample that closely
resembles the population you are studying.
3) Random sample: each member of the population has
an equal chance of being selected for the sample.
V. Forms of Data Collection
A. Survey: a study of the prevalence of certain beliefs, attitudes,
or behaviors based on people’s responses to specific questions.
B. Naturalistic Observation: a careful examination of what
happens under more or less natural conditions.
C. Laboratory Observation: behavior is observed and
recorded in a controlled environment.
VI. Developmental Research Designs
A. Cross-Sectional Study: a study designed to assess
age-related differences, in which people of different ages
are assessed on one occasion.
B. Longitudinal Study: a study designed to assess changes
in a sample over time.
C. Sequential Study: a combination of a Cross-Sectional
Study and a Longitudinal Study.
VII. Ethical Concerns with Humans:
experimenters must be careful that the designs
of their studies do not harm participants
mentally, emotionally, or physically.
A. Informed Consent: a statement informing participants what
to expect in an experiment and that requires their acceptance
of the procedures.
B. Avoidance of Deception
C. Right to Privacy and Confidentiality: results and names
must be kept confidential.