what is a theory?
explanations and predictions that provide a framework for understanding the relationships among an organized set of facts or principles
Biological Theories
describe epigenetics
- genetic and epigenetic factors interact with the environment to shape our health and well-being across the lifespan
- epigenetics: altering the gene funciton but not the gene structure, emphasis on how experiences matter to differentiate ourselves
Evolutionary theories
define ehtology, behaviour genetics and evolutionary psychology
- ethology: genetically determined survival behaviours evolved through natural selection
- behaviour genetics: traits are influenced by genes when related people are more similar than those who are unrelated
- evolutionary psychology: the view that genetically inherited cognitive and social traits have evolved through natural selection
evolutionary theories
explain evolutionary developmental psychology
the view that genetically inherited cognitive and social characteristics that promote survial and adaptation appear at different times across the lifespan
ex. newborns’ ability to recgonize faces, different behaviours to adapt
Psychoanalytic theories
Describe Freud’s psychosexual theory
the id,ego,superego and the psychosexual stages
- id: pleasure principle, wanting to satistfy it’s agressive and sexual impluses
- ego: reality prinicple, determines when the id can safely satisfy it’s needs
- superego: moral compass, tries to control the id
- oral stage: birth-2 yrs
- weaning - anal: 2-3, anal character
- toilet training - phallic: 3-6 castration anxiety
- resolving Oedipus/Electra complex - latency: 7-11, gender separation
- developing defense mechanisms - gential: 11- adulthood
- achieving mature sexual intimacy
- need to resolve these stages or fixation occurs
Psychoanalytic theories
explain Erikson’s psychosocial theory
stage, age, positive characteristics gained and typical activities
- idea that development is continuing throughout lifespan which is first widely accepted theory as development
- healthy development requires a favourable ratio of positive to negative
1. -trust vs mistrust: birth-1yr, hope; trust in caregiver and own ability ( secure attachment to caregiver is key)
2. autonomy vs shame and doubt 1-3, will, demand for new choices, child learns self-care skills
3. intiative vs guilt: 3-6, purpose; ability to oragnize activites around some goal (harsh parental criticsm may lead to guilt)
4. industry vs inferiority:6-12, competence; cultural skills and norms (failure to master these leads to sense of inferiority)
5. identity vs role confusion: 12-18, fidelity; a unified and consistent sense of self, establishes perosnal values and attitudes
6. intimacy vs isolation: 18-30, love; person develop intimate relationships beyond adolescent love
7. generatvity vs stagnation: 30-late adulthood, care; turn outward from the self toward others
8. integrity vs despaire: late adulthood, wisdom, person conducts a life review
Humanstic Theories
explain Maslow’s heirarchy of needs
define: deficiency and being motives, self-actualization, esteem needs
- development of motives; deficiency motives and being motives
- deficiency motives: drives to maintain physical or emotional homeostasis ex. hunger drive
- being motives: drives to understand and give to others
- self actualization: the ultimate goal we strive for in life; to reach one’s full potential
- esteem needs: having a sense of value and acceptance
Humanistic theories
Explain Carl Rogers’ theory of self
- personal growth: have potential for gwoth in a supprortive enviornment
- our biggest motivation in life is to actualize ourselves, we are born with this innate desire
- always seeking self improvement
- we have basic human needs of self-actualization and postiive regard and if others give us unconditional or conditional positive regard we either self actualize or gain self-discrepancies
Learning/Behvaioural Theories
Explain Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning
- learning that results from the association of two stimuli
- salivating dog: pairing an unconditioned response with a stimulus (salivating and food)
- learn to associated the stimulus with the nautrally occuring unconditioned response and stimulus (food)
- we learn to respond to the conditioned stimulus the same way we repsonded to the unconditioned stimulus
Learning/behavioural theories
Explain Watson’s classical conditioning
Little Albert Experiment
- emotional reactions could be classically conditioned
- how phobias can be developed, association with one thing and a negative experience
also how phobias can be pased on when parents model it ex.duck phobia
Learning/Behavioural theories
Explain Skinner’s operant conditioning
define the difference b/w reinforcement and punishment
- reinforcement - increases the probability of a behaviour being repeated:
+; adding something pleasant, a reward for the behaviour, -; wanting to get rid of the unpleasant, ex. washing dishes so parents stop nagging you - punishment - decreases the probability of the behaviour being repeated: +; adding something unpleasant such as scolding, -; taking away something pleasant
punishment has to be consistent or else it will be reinforcement
learning/behavioural theories
define extintion, partial reinforcement and shaping
(part of Skinners operate conditioning)
- extinction: decrease in behaviour after repeated non-enforcement
- partial reinforcement: behaviour is reinforced some times and not others
- shaping: happens when an individual learns an complex behaviour through the reinforcement of intermediate steps (ex. child learning how to clean their room)
Cognitive theories
define: scheme, assimilation, accomodation, equilibration
part of Jean Piaget theory
- scheme: mental representation of the world around them, representing behvaiours, object, events or concepts
- assimilation: using schemes to make sense of events or experiecents, transform incoming info so that it fits within their exisiting thinking
- accommodation: adapting their thinking to incoming information, creation of new schemes
- equilibration: proccess of balancing assimilation and accommodation to create schemes that fit the environment
Cognitive theory
explain Piaget’s stages of congitive developement
- sensorimotor- birth-2yrs: object permanance
- preoperational- 2-7: conservation of mass
- concrete operational- 7-11
- formal operational- 12-up
cognitive theories
explain information-processing theory
define: encoding, storage and retrieval
- how the mind manages information
- uses the computer as a model of human thinking
- encoding: organizing info to be stored in memory
- storage: keeping info
- retrieval: getting info out of memory
sensory info -> sensory memory -> short term memory -> long term memory
Cognitive Theories
explain Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory
define: scaffolding, zone of proximal development
- idea that complex forms of thinking come from social interactions rather than in child’s private explorations as Piaget thought.
- scaffolding: learning new cognitive skills through someone more experienced
- zone of proximal development: tasks that are hard alone but can be managed with guidance
Cognitive theories
Explain Albert Bandura’s social-cognitive theory
exlpain reciprocal determinism
- modelling: learning through the observation of actions of others ex.bobo doll expt
- reciprocal determinism: human development is based on: personal, behavioural and environmental factors
- self efficacy: believing in one’s own capacity to make things happen, people with this have higher expectations for succes and will put forth more effort and persistence
Systems theory
what is the systems approach and define: holism and wellness
- the view that personal and external factors form a dynamic integreated system
- Holism: “whole” is primary and is greater than the sum of its parts
- wellness: adaptive adjustment
growth is the result of a reorganization of the syst. adjust to change
ex. looking at a load of bread instead of its ingredients: wehat flour, yeast and water
Systems Theories
Explain Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory
- explains development in terms of the relationships among individuals and their environments
1. macrosyst: outermost sphere - cultural context
2. exosys: socioeconomic - institutions of the culture that affect a child’s development indirectly ex.neighbours,media
3. mesosyst: interconnected microsystems
4. microsyst: immediated context which the peeople are exposed directly ex. families, schools
5. individual context: innermost circle - the child’s genetic make-up and developmental stage
