define developmental psychology
developmental psychology is a scientific approach which aims to explain how children and adults change over time.
why is childhood the focus?
childhood is the period during an individuals lifespan when the most change occurs
what are the four areas of developmental?
biological, social, emotional and cognitive
what are the three goals of developmental?
describe, explain and optimise
what is normative development?
typical patterns of change
what is idiographic development?
individual patterns of change
what was piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
The theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. Piaget regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and the environment.
what are the four stages of piaget’s theory?
sensorimotor, pre operational, concrete operational, formal operational
what are the characterisitics of the sensorimotor stage?
- know the world through movements and sensations
- learn through basic actions
- learn things exist even if they are not seen (object permanence)
- separate beings from the people and objects around them
- actions can cause things to happen
what are the characteristics of the pre operational stage?
- being to think symbolically and learn to use words or images to represent things
- tends to be egocentric and struggle to see other people’s points of view
- still think in very concrete terms
- more skilled at pretend play but still struggle with logic and understanding the idea of constancy
what are the characteristics of the concrete operational stage?
- Think logically about concrete events
- Understand the concept of conservation
- thinking becomes more logical and organised but still very concrete
- begin using inductive reasoning
- less egocentric and more understanding of others
what are the characteristics of the formal operational stage?
- think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems
- abstract thought emerges
- think about moral, philosophical, ethical, social and political issues
- begin to use deductive logic
what are schemas?
describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. they are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand.
what is assimilation?
the process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas
what is accommodation?
changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information
what is equilibration?
striking a balance between assimilation and accommodation
what are the strengths of piaget’s theory?
- changed how we study children
- huge amount of research
- been of practical use
- improved education
what are the limitations of piaget’s theory?
- didn’t consider culture
- open to interpretation
- subjective
- underestimated children
- small sample size
- not past adolescence
what was kohlberg’s study about?
Sought to describe the development of moral reasoning. Posed moral dilemmas to children and adolescents and found stages of moral development.
what are the three areas of moral development?
pre conventional, conventional, post conventional
what is stage one?
punishment and obedience
what is stage two?
instrumental and concrete
what is stage three?
interpersonal relationships
what is stage four?
authority and social order
