Introduction and Theories of Development

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Introduction and Theories of Development

• Psych 1643 - Fall 1999
• Missi Patterson

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Why study development? - Some basics

• Developmental Psychology - is the division of
  psychology that is concerned specifically with
  changes that occur over time, and with the
  processes and influences that account for these
  changes.
• The text discusses three domains that are
  affected by development
• ) Biosocial - Basic growth and body changes
• ) Cognitive - Mental processes related to
  thinking
• ) Psychosocial - Development of personality and
  interpersonal skills
• Three recurring questions
• ) Organismic / Mechanistic
• ) Nature / Nurture
• ) Continuity / Discontinuity

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Issues in Development
BBIOSOCIAL CCOGNITIVE PPSYCHOSOCIAL
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Research Methods - Types of Studies

• Naturalistic Observation -
• Non-Naturalistic Observation -
• Experiments -
• Observer tries to manipulate variables in a
  controlled environment to determine the effects
  of the manipulation.
• Variables involved -
• Independent Variable (IV) - The variable the
  observer is actively changing
• Dependent Variable - (DV) - The variable that is
  measured
• Testing Hypotheses
• Experimental Group
• Control Group
• An experiment which is properly run and analyzed
  allows us to say that the IV caused the changes
  in the DV.

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Distinguishing between IV and DV

• ) I want to find out if powerbars affect athletic
  performance. I expect that one powerbar a day
  will make gymnasts get higher all-around scores.
• ) I want to determine if walking in infants can
  be facilitated through the use of special toys.
  I hypothesize that infants placed in walkers
  will walk earlier than those who arent.
• ) Im interested in learning how herbal teas
  affect math ability. I hypothesize that math
  ability will be better in students who drink 2 or
  more cups of tea a day.

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Research Methods - Types of Studies

• Correlational Study - A study in which we look
  for relationships between variables.
• A value is obtained that is between -1 and 1
• The sign indicates the direction of the
  relationship
• means that as one variable increases, the other
  also increases
• - means that as one variable increases, the other
  decreases
• The value indicates the strength of the
  relationship
• close to 1 means that the relation is strong
• close to zero means that the relation is weak
• These studies DO NOT allow us to determine if the
  relationship is a causal one.

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Correlations
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Studying Development Over Time
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Psychoanalytic Theories

• Based on the theories of Sigmund Freud.
• Deterministic - people are motivated by innate,
  biological drives.
• CONTINUITY / DISCONTINUITY
• separations between stages, but there is a
  connection between early experiences and later
  development
• NATURE / NURTURE
• believe in an interaction between the innate
  drives and early family experiences
• ORGANISMIC / MECHANISTIC
• believes in unconscious thought - it can control
  behavior

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Eriksons Psychosocial Theory

• Didnt like the focus on extremes of behavior,
  wanted a more normative approach
• Believed that at various points in our lives, we
  have to resolve social conflicts within a
  continuum of outcomes
• The sum of all the resolutions of these conflicts
  determine our personality
• On your own in the text
• Evaluate the cognitive theories - Positives and
  Negatives

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Learning Theories

• Learning theorists are interested in overt,
  observable behavior.
• CONTINUITY / DISCONTINUITY
• believe that development is a slow, gradual
  process with no distinct changes
• NATURE / NURTURE
• the goal is to discover how people are shaped by
  their environments
• ORGANISMIC / MECHANISTIC
• believe (like John Locke) that humans are born
  with a tabula rasa (blank slate)
• they are reactive beings, who simply respond to
  the environment
• THE BIG NAMES
• Pavlov, Watson, Skinner

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Classical Conditioning

• A stimulus that automatically (without learning)
  caused some response - UCS
• The response that was made to the stimulus - UCR
• A second stimulus that was paired with the first
  (and initially caused no response) - CS
• The response that was eventually elicited by the
  CS - CR
• UCS and CS must be presented close together in
  time
• CS must have a predictive relationship with UCS
• The UCS must provoke an involuntary response
  (UCR)

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Operant Conditioning

• Operant conditioning works for involuntary
  responses - initially, there is NO automatic
  response to a given stimulus.
• This type of learning suggests that learning
  follows the law of effect
• behaviors that are rewarded are strengthened
• behaviors that are punished are weakened
• Requirements for conditioning
• discriminative stimulus - a signal that learning
  is about to take place
• response - the operant behavior that is performed
• reinforcement - to strengthen the behavior
• On your own in the text
• Social Learning Theory - Bandura
• Evaluate the learning theories - Positives and
  Negatives

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Cognitive Theories

• Cognitive theorists are interested in the
  developmental origins of knowledge.
• Believe that we need to understand the human
  components of behavior, such as thought, and
  memory.
• CONTINUITY / DISCONTINUITY
• separations between stages, but there is a
  connection between early experiences and later
  development
• NATURE / NURTURE
• believe in an interaction between the environment
  and the development of cognitive structures
• ORGANISMIC / MECHANISTIC
• believe that organisms can think, and therefore
  play an active part in the world

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Piagets Cognitive Development

• Assimilation - taking information from the world
  and fitting it into existing structures in the
  mind
• Accommodation - changing existing mental
  structures to integrate new information
• Equilibration - the basic process of human
  adaptation. Individuals seek a balance between
  the environment and their own structures of
  thought - dont like weird inconsistencies.
• On your own in the text
• Evaluate the cognitive theories - Positives and
  Negatives

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Piagets Cognitive Development

• Assimilation - taking information from the world
  and fitting it into existing structures in the
  mind
• Accommodation - changing existing mental
  structures to integrate new information
• Equilibration - the basic process of human
  adaptation. Individuals seek a balance between
  the environment and their own structures of
  thought - dont like weird inconsistencies.
• On your own in the text
• Evaluate the cognitive theories - Positives and
  Negatives

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Sociocultural Theory

• Discusses the bi-directional nature of our
  culture
• Zone of proximal development
• CONTINUITY / DISCONTINUITY
• Different abilities come at certain points
• NATURE / NURTURE
• the context in which we live shapes who we
  become, but we also shape our contexts
• ORGANISMIC / MECHANISTIC
• all the while our contexts are shaping us, we are
  in turn, shaping our contexts
• THE BIG NAMES
• Vygotsky

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Epigenetic Systems Theory

• Discusses the interaction between genes and the
  environment.
• Selective Adaptation
• Genotype vs. Phenotype
• Reaction Range
• CONTINUITY / DISCONTINUITY
• Many of our abilities can be determined by early
  environmental influences
• NATURE / NURTURE
• There is an interaction between our genes and the
  environment
• ORGANISMIC / MECHANISTIC
• Our genes control quite a lot, but we can also
  change our environment, so we can act to change
  ourselves

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Study Tip Learning the Theories