Download Developmental theories History of Nature/Nurture Historical era

Developmental theories History of Nature/Nurture Historical era 1880-­‐1940s Nature 1920-­‐1950s Nurture 1960-­‐1970s Nature 1980-­‐1990s Nurture Empirical advance Inheritance, instincts Conditioning/Reinforcement/Psychoanalytic theory Ethology – species specific Behavioural genetics – twins Cognitive theories – Piaget et al Poverty, social ecology, post-­‐modernism (cultural deconstruction) – Bronfenbrenner Molecular biology/Neuroscience 2000-­‐Current Nature -­‐
Nature and nurture reciprocally constitute and influence one another – development is dynamic -­‐
Transactional models – nature changes nurture and nurture changes nature -­‐
Epigenetics (Gottlieb 1992) o Genes give us predisposition but environment alters gene e.g changing quality of caregiving changes gene o Environmental factors that moderate the expression of genetic influences o Development builds on genes but it not determined by them – genes make certain outcomes more probable o Genes never function alone – their potential is not actualized unless certain “epi” factors occur o Even seemingly instinctive, inborn patterns of behaviour will not emerge unless the individual has normal genes and normal experiences o Infant phenotype (expression of a gene) for reactivity/rhythmicity is moderated o Self-­‐regulatory capacities in infants are influenced by regulation of caregivers -­‐
Recycling of developmental issues (Erikson 1959) – Identity; but resolution of one developmental task influences engagement with the next – can revisit/revise/recycle o How you managed task at one stage influences how you manage task at next level. Heredity-­‐Environment Correlations – Explanatory Mechanisms (Scarr & McCartney) -­‐
People with different genes also encounter different environments o Passive: Child passively gets correlated genes and environment e.g musical parents provide a musical environment o Evocative – child elicits reactions from parents that lead them to provide environments correlated with the child’s genes e.g parents notice musical ability in child and provide input to foster that ability o Active (niche-­‐picking) – child’s genes lead him/her to actively seek out correlated environmental experiences e.g musical child campaigns with parents to go to conservatorium for high school Understanding human growth (people becoming more complex and sophisticated in themselves) 1. Personal change – stage theorists a. complexity of the individual – competencies, relationships b. within domains individuals move from experts to masters c. qualitative change – don’t just do things better, do things differently d. don’t just know/remember more things – understand them in a different way e. Freud/Erikson, Piaget/Kohlberg 2. Changing contexts a. Multiple sources of experience that augment/constrain development b. Starts as a dyadic relationship with caregiver – no longer the case in preschool 3.
4.
c. Bronfenbrenner’s social ecology model d. Ecological model e. Erikson (social clock) f. Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory Regulation model – the relationship between the person and the context a. From biological to social e.g eating to relationships b. Movement from biological (arousal) to psychological (emotions) to social/learning (attention/executive function) i. Beginning of socialization e.g learn how to regulate emotional display like tantrums – then start to do more complex things like sitting still Representations – here and now experiences are carried forward/mental reps influence later experiences a. Mental schema with which we carry earlier experiences into later experiences Theories of development -­‐
Theories are part of the science of life span development -­‐
Science defined not by what it investigates, but how it investigates -­‐
No single theory has been able to account for all aspects of development -­‐
Although theories disagree about certain aspects of dev, many of their ideas are complimentary rather than contradictory • Psychoanalytic theories • Cognitive theories • Behavioural and Social Cognitive theories • Ethological theory • Ecological theory • An eclectic theoretical orientation Scientific method 1. Concetualise a process or problem to be studied 2. Collect research information (data) 3. Analyse data 4. Draw conclusions -­‐
Draw on theories and develop hypotheses -­‐
Theory – Interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain and make predictions -­‐
Hypotheses – Specific assumptions and predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy -­‐
-­‐
-­‐
Psychoanalytic theories Describe dev as primarily unconscious and heavily coloured by emotion Emphasize behaviour as merely a surface characteristic True understanding of dev requires analyzing the symbolic meanings of behaviour and the deep inner workings of the mind Early experiences with parents extensively shape development -­‐
Freud’s theory -­‐
Personality 3 structures – Id, Ego, Superego -­‐
Id – consists of instincts – individual’s reservoir of psychic energy o Totally unconscious o No contact with reality o No morality – doesn’t take into account whether something is right or wrong -­‐
Ego – emerges when as children experience the demands and constraints of reality o “Executiive branch” of personality – uses reasoning to make decisions o No morality – doesn’t take into account whether something is right or wrong o Must resolve conflicts between demands of reality, wishes of Id and constraints or Superego