Download Psy 232 chapter1 v02

Chapter One
BASIC ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF
DEVELOPMENT
Nature versus Nurture
Idealists and Rationalists
– Plato; Descartes
• Some knowledge is inborn
Empiricists
– John Locke
• Tabula Rasa
– All knowledge is created from experience
– Environmental factors change development
Interactionists
– Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• All human beings are naturally good
• Seek experiences that help promote growth
• Development involves interaction between
internal and external forces
Which perspective would you hold?
Discuss with an example behavior.
Continuity-Discontinuity Issue
Continuity
• Quantitative change
• Change in amount
Discontinuity
• Stages of development
• Qualitative change
• Change in kind or types
Internal and External Influences
Maturation
– Genetically programmed sequential patterns of
change
• Universal
Sequential
• Relatively impervious to environmental
influences
Internal and External Influences
Timing of Experience
– Experience may be needed to trigger genetic
programs
Critical periods
• Goslings and imprinting: When goslings become
attached to and follow their mother (Lorenz)
Sensitive periods
• A time when a particular experience can be best
incorporated into the maturational process
Internal and External Influences
Behavior Genetics: Study of genetic
contributions to behavior or traits
Heredity affects a broad range of behaviors
Internal and External Influences
Gene-Environment Interaction
Child’s genetic heritage may
predict something about
environment
Heritage may affect the way a
child behaves with other people
Children’s interpretations of their
experiences are influenced by
genetic tendencies
The Ecological Perspective
Ecology: Context in which each child develops
– Urie Bronfenbrenner
• Children are raised in a complex social ecology
Individualism: World is made up of independent people whose
achievements and responsibilities are individual not collective
Collectivism: Emphasis on group identity, sharing, and group
decision-making
The Ecological Perspective
Vulnerability and Resilience
Vulnerabilities
– Example?
Protective factors
– Example?
Facilitative environments
– encourage development
Resilience
– Children high in protective factors show resilience even
in difficult environments
Age-Related Change
Normative age-graded: Common to every
species member
Normative history-graded: Historical forces that
affect each generation somewhat differently
Non-normative (individual differences): Result
from unique, unshared events
Theories of Development*
Psychoanalytic Theories: Behavior is
governed by unconscious as well as
conscious processes.
– Sigmund Freud
– Concepts
– Personality structures
– Psychosexual stages
Psychoanalytic Theories
Eric Erikson
– Concepts
– Psychosocial stages
• Children are influenced by cultural demands
that are age related
• Children must interact in a positive way with the
environment for a healthy personality to form
Cognitive-Developmental and
Information-Processing Theory
Jean Piaget: Nature of the human organism is to
adapt to its environment
– Concepts
– Stage theory of cognitive development
• All children go through the same kinds of sequential
discoveries about their world
• Cognitively, children must progress through four distinct
stages
Cognitive-Developmental and
Information-Processing Theory
Lev Vygotsky: Complex forms of thinking have their
origins in social interactions
– Scaffolding
• Guiding the child’s learning of new cognitive
skills by a skilled social partner via modeling
and structure
– Zone of Proximal Development
• Tasks that are too hard for the child to do by
themselves but can be accomplished with the
help of an adult or more experience child
Cognitive-Developmental and
Information-Processing Theory
Information Processing Theory
– Explains how the mind manages information
– Uses computer models to explain learning
– Explicit theories about memory formation
• Sensory memory
• Short-term memory
• Long-term memory
– Identified both age-related and individual
differences in information processing
Learning Theory
Classical Conditioning: Ivan Pavlov
– Concepts
Operant Conditioning: B.F. Skinner
– Concepts
Social Cognitive Theory: Albert Bandura*
– Observational learning or modeling
Intrinsic reinforcement
Eclectic Approach
Use of multiple theoretical perspectives to
explain and study human development
Research Designs
and Methods
Four goals for the scientific study of human
development
Identifying Relationships Between
Variables
Naturalistic
Observations
• Observations in normal
environments
• Observer bias
• Limited generalizability
Case Studies
• In-depth examinations
of single individuals
• Useful in making
decisions about
individuals
• Frequently the basis of
important hypotheses
about unusual
developmental events
Research Method Summary
Research Ethics
Protection of animal rights and human
subjects