Explain the importance of the lifespan perspective.
Lifespan perspective - the current view of developmentalists that changes happen throughout the entire human lifespan and that changes must be interpreted in light of the culture and context in which they occur; thus interdisciplinary research is critical to understanding human development
Example is personal goals older adults pursue their goals more intensely than younger adults as human beings age the develop strategies that help them maximize gains and compensate for losses
Adults go through major life events and changes such as divorce and career shifts there’s also been a significant increase in life expectancy
List and describe the three major domains of development.
Physical domain changes in the size shape and characteristics of the body
Ex: Studying the physiological processes associated with puberty, Gradual development of depth perception over the first year of life
Cognitive domain changes in thinking memory problem solving and other intellectual skills
Ex: How children learn to read and why some memory functions deteriorate in old age
Social domain changes in variables that are associated with the relationship of an individual to others
Ex: Studies of children social skills and research on individual differences in personality
Explain developmental changes in terms of continuity and discontinuity
Continuity change is primarily a matter of amount or degree
discontinuity a change in type or kind
Example as friends as you age you have fewer friends as you get older than you did when you were in elementary school but the kind of friends also change mutual trust is a characteristic of adult and teen friendships
Can be thought of as quantitative and qualitative change a quantitative change is a change in amount a qualitative change is a change in characteristic kind or type example puberty after puberty you can reproduce.
Briefly describe the research goals of scientists who study human development.
Describe - Simply to state what happens
Explain - Telling why a particular event occurs we rely on theories which are set of statements that propose general principles of development
Predict - Useful theories produce predictions or hypothesise that researchers contest
Influence -Use what you know to make judgments about how much the person’s medical condition may have already influenced their brain/body. (ex. we know that experience affects memory so we may be able to provide training to prevent memory problems from developing)
Describe the importance of cross-cultural research to the study of human development.
Ethnography a detailed description of a single culture or context based on extensive observation.
Researcher lives in the culture for an extended period of time. Researchers can compare two or more cultures directly by testing children or adults in each of the cultures with the same or comparable measures.
Important for two reasons
- Researchers want to identify universal changes predictable events or processes experience by individuals in all cultures (memory deteriorated with age. Must be proven across multi cultures)
- One of the goals is to produce findings that can be used to improve people’s lives for example developmentalists know that children in cultures that emphasize the community more than the individual or more cooperative and children in more individual cultures however to use this information to help all children learn to cooperate they need to know how exactly adults and such cultures teach their children to be cooperative cross cultural research helps develops identity specific variables that explain cultural differences
Identify five ethical standards that developmental researchers must follow.
Protection from Harm - Is it ethical to do research that may cause participants permanent physical or psychological harm
Informed Consent - Researchers must inform participants of any possible harm and have them sign a consent form stating that they are aware of the risks of participating
Confidentiality - Researchers must keep the identities of participants confidential and must report their data in such a way that no particular piece of information can be associated with any specific participant
Knowledge of Results - Participants their parents and the administrators of institutions have a right to a written summary of the studies results
Deception - If deception is a necessary part of a study it must not cause participants distress and they have the right to be informed about their deception as soon as the study is over
Describe the function of genes.
A gene is a complex chemical unit of a chromosome that controls or influences inherited traits. (a segment on a chromo that controls a specific characteristic)
Instruct body cells to combine the 20 amino acids to build the proteins that our bodies need to function properly. Basic structural elements of our body are made up of proteins (muscle, bones, brain, etc.)
Describe the general structure of the human genome (number of paired chromosomes)
All the DNA that an organism possesses.
Humans have 46 chromosomes (23 paired)
20 0000 protein-coding genes
20 Animo Acids
Describe the general ways genes influence development. (define genotype, phenotype, dominant and recessive traits/patterns, polygenic and multifactorial inheritance).
For instance if your dad has a Homozygous dominant curly hair gene you’ll end up having curly hair because of it, even if your mother is homozygous recessive. Genes differ in expresitivity though so the degree that the gene influences phenotypes vary from person to person so you might not have as curly hair as your dad
Genotype an individual’s unique genetic blueprint
phenotype an individual’s whole set of observable characteristics
dominant recessive pattern a pattern of inheritance in which a single dominant gene influences a persons phenotype but two recessive genes are necessary to produce an associated trait
Polygenetic inheritance pattern of inheritance in which many genes influence a trait. An example as I colour the dark eyes are dominant over light eyes you’ll still get a mix of blended colours
multifactorial inheritance pattern of inheritance affected by both genes and the environment (An example is height if the kid is ill poorly nourished or emotionally neglected a child might be smaller even though he check carries jeans that would result in his being as tall as his peers think Erin) personality and intelligence are other examples
Describe what epigenetic mechanisms are – define epigenome
An epigenome is the sum total of inherited and acquired molecular modifications to the genome that leads to changes in gene regulation without changing the DNA sequence of the genome.
Epigenetic mechanisms. Epigenetic markers work by signalling some genes to turn on via Gene expression and others to turn off by gene silencing. Some epi-genetics factors which are inherited and acquired gene regulation patterns that alter gene functions can be transferred to the offspring
Summarize the main ideas of Freud’s psychosexual theory.
Freud though the libido, an intrinsic drive for physical pleasure was the motivating force behind most behaviour. His patients had memories of sexual feelings and behaviours in childhood so he thought these were important to personality development he argued that personality had three parts. The id contains the libido and operates at an unconscious level It’s a persons basic sexual and aggressive impulses which are present at birth. the ego is the conscious thinking part of the personality and it develops in the first 2 to 3 years of life it keeps the needs of the id satisfied. the super ego is the portion of a personality that acts as a moral judge it develops at age 6.
Freud had five psychosexual stages oral stage fixation of the mouth then anus called the anal stage the phallic stage focus on the genitals the latency stage of dormancy genital stage If one Of the stages was lacking in development of fixation would result
Identify the conflict associated with each of Erikson’s psychosocial stages. (there is more information on Erikson’s conflicts in later chapters so for this Chapter, just get a basic understanding of Erikson’s theory.
Claims that development resulted from the interaction between internal drives and cultural demands psychosocial stages.
Trust versus miss trust based on dependency of the caregiver
Autonomy versus shame and doubt based on giving children independence
Initiative versus guilt based on children developing a sense of social initiative
Industry versus inferiority based on children acquiring culturally valued skills
Identity versus role confusion based on the transition from childhood to adult hood the child must achieve an integrated sense of self of what he wants to be end of his inappropriate sexual role
Intimacy versus isolation must find your sense of self outside of a relationship. Young adults will remain in child relationships and will experience loneliness without strong identities
Generativity versus stagnation primarily the concern is establishing and guiding the next generation
Ego integrity versus despair and acceptance of one’s life in preparation for facing death in order to avoid a sense of despair
Describe the basic concepts of humanistic theory. Maslov.
Inanate goodness. Internal Drive is each individuals motivation to achieve his or her full potential. Self actualization according to Maslow. He divided motives into two subjects:
- deficiency which involves drives to maintain physical or emotional homeostasis
- being motives which involved a desire to understand and to grow.
Hierarchy: need for self actualization esteem needs love and belonging this needs safety needs physiological needs
Personal Growth:
Early experience with caregivers makes the child develop a sense of self-worth they think they are worthwhile only when they behave in approved ways and it is never too late to go overcome early conditioning or the residue of unsolved dilemmas
Define classical conditioning and explain how it occurs.
Classical conditioning is learning that results from the association of stimuli made by Ivan Pavlov who discovered that organisms can acquire new signals for existing responses.
In classical conditioning terms the food is the unconditioned (unlearned natural) stimulus salivating is the unconditioned (unlearned natural) response.
Stimuli presented just before or at the same time as the unconditional stimulus are those that are likely to be associated with it. Food orders can become conditioned learned stimulus that elicits salivation. Now you may start to salivate with just the smell of food even when you do not actually eat the food when a response occurs reliability in connection with the conditioned stimulus it is known as a conditioned learned response
Define and explain the process of operant conditioning.
Learning to repeat or stop behaviours because of their consequences. Reinforcements immediate consequence that follows a behaviour that increases the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated or punishment an immediate consequence that decreases the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated.
- Positive reinforcement: adding something in order to increase a response. For example, adding a treat will increase the response of sitting
- Negative reinforcement: taking something away in order to increase a response. Taking away a toy until your son picks up his room. you want to remove or withhold something of value in order to increase a certain response or behavior.
Punishment involves taking away a condition usually something pleasant that follows a behaviour and decreases the chance of a behaviour happening again
- Extinction: The gradual illumination of a behaviour through repeated non-reinforcement)
- Positive punishment: entails adding a consequence usually something unpleasant to decrease the behaviour
- Negative Punishment: When you remove something in order to decrease a behavior. You are taking something away so that a response or unwanted behavior is decreased. Putting a child in a time-out until they can decrease their aggressive behavior
Describe how cognitive development progresses, according to Piaget.
Schemes - an internal cognitive structure That provides an individual with a procedure to follow in a specific circumstance
Ex. Throwing a ball you use your throwing scheme
Assimilation is the process of using schemes to make sense of events or experiences
Accommodation is changing a scheme as a result of some new information
Equilibrium is the process of balancing assimilation and accommodation to create schemes that fit the environment
He thought that logical thinking of all four stages.
- Sensorimotor stage infants use their sensory and motor schemes to act in the world around them
- Preoperational stage where they require some symbolic schemes such as language and fantasy that they use in thinking and communicating
- Concrete operational stage Begin to think logically and become capable of solving problems
- Formal operational stage they learn to think logically about abstract ideas and hypothetical situations
Describe information-processing theory processes.
Theoretical perspective is that use the computer as a model to explain how the mind managers information. What is transformed by mental programs is put into use to perform action output.
Memory processes:
Memory breaks down into subprocesses of encoding (Organizing information to be stored in memory) storage (keeping information) retrieval (Getting information out of memory)
Memory components:
Sensory info —> sensory memory —> info selected for processing —>short term memory(working memory, 7 items) —>info to be stored permanently —> LTM —> 1(info needed to comprehend new info) 2 (techniques for processing new info)
Define Bandura’s concepts of modelling, reciprocal determinism, and self-efficacy.
assumes reciprocal interactions among persons and behavioural factors and the environment
Modelling
- is learning that results from seeing a model reinforced or punished for behaviour (learning does not always involve reinforcement)
- of course this is contingent on maturation (a 4 year old will not learn calculus)
- this model is influenced by the individual own goals and expectations
Reciprocal Determinism
- a person’s behaviour both influences and is influenced by personal factors and the social environment.
- a process of human development based on interaction of:
- personal (cognitive abilities, physical characteristics, beliefs attitudes and expectations) your friends and you like participating in team activities
- behavioural (physical motor and verbal actions) you are learning to play soccer
- environmental factors (other people and physical surroundings) your friends enjoy playing soccer
Self-Efficacy
- the belief in one’s own capacity to cause an intended event to occur or to perform a task
- strong self-efficacy = higher expectations for success =put forth more effort and persistence when faced with a challenge
- low self-eff = lower expectations = less effort/avoidance when confronted with a difficult task
Describe the basic principle of systems theory.
the view that personal factors together with external factors form a dynamic integrated system
- personal = spiritual, intelligent, emotional, behavioural
- external = physical environment, social and cultural factors
basic tenant is holism - the view that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts ( a loaf of bread is greater than the sum of its ingredients of flour sugar, etc.)
- a person develops in relation to changes in any part of the whole dynamic system
- growth is the result of a reorganization of the system as it adjusts to change
- if adjustment is adaptive it promotes a high level of holistic health called wellness
- if adjustment is maladaptive it can lead to disorder or disfunction
Describe how contexts influence development from Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological perspective.
theory that explains development in terms of the relationship among individuals and their environments or interconnected contexts over the passage of time called the chronosystem
Macrosystem:
- outmost sphere (sociocultural context)
- manifestation of overarching socio-cultural ideologies, values, beliefs and organization of the social system and public policy through micro institutions such as the federal government in which a child is growing up
Exosystem:
- socioeconomic context
- include institutions of the culture that affect children’s development indirectly (workplace of a child’s parent, social services and the health care and education systems)
- funding for education exists in this context
- Ex: citizens of a nation may believe that all children should be educated (sociocultural) but their ability to provide that education is limited by the country’s wealth (socioeconomic)
Microsystem:
- immediate context
- includes the values to which people are exposed directly such as their families schools religious and neighbourhoods
- Mesosystem is made up of interconnections between these components
- Ex: the specific school a child attends and her own family are part of the microsystem. Her parents involvement in her school and the response of the school to their involvement are part of the mesosystem
The Person:
- individual context.
- if you haven’t mastered reading you won’t benifit from an advanced reading program (her ability to benefit from her school/family intervention depend on how her education fits her individual needs)
Has helped developmental psycholofists catergorize environmental factors and think about the ways in which they influence indiciduals
Be able to describe the distinguishing characteristics of human development theories. (That is, know what distinguishes theories from one another – what are the defining characteristics of each category of theory – the lecture has information on this). Table 2.5 in the textbook summarizes features as well.
Biological-bio and physiological process
- Genetic
- Epigenetic
- Evolutionary
Psychoanalytic
- Freud’s Psychosexual
- Erikson’s Psychosocial
Humanistic
-Maslov’s Theory of Motivation
Behavioural
- Pavlo’s Classical Conditioning
- Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Cognitive
- Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
- Information-Processing Theory
- Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
Systems
-Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory
