PSYC 102: Chapter 1

Question 1

Developmental Science

Answer 1

A field of study that focuses on the range of children’s physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development

Goals:

• To understand the basic biological and cultural processes that account for the complexities of development
• To devise ways of safeguarding children’s health and well-being

Question 2

Periods of development

Answer 2

Developmentalists divide time btw. conception and adulthood into 5 periods that are recognized in most cultures

    1. Prenatal Period (conception ~ birth)
    2. Infancy (birth ~ 2) 
    3. Early childhood (ages 2 ½ ~ 6)
    4. Middle childhood (ages 6 ~12)
    5. Adolescence (ages 12 ~ 18)

Question 3

Domain of Development

Answer 3

• Social
• Emotional
• Cognitive (intellectual)
• Physical
  Development in any domain influences and is influenced by other domains

Question 4

Contexts of Development

Answer 4

• Physical Environments
• Cultural beliefs and Practices
• Families and Peers
• Neighborhoods and Communities
• Institutions ( e.g.: schools, government)

Question 5

4 fundamental issues concerning the process of development

Answer 5

1. Questions about the Sources of Development
   - How do the forces of biology, the environment, and the child’s own activities interact to produce new ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving?
   - Emphasis: Importance of biology and environment
   Nature and Nurture
2. Questions about Plasticity
   - To what extent and under what conditions is the course of development plastic and subject to change as a result of either deliberate intervention or chance experience?
   - Impact and emphasis: Sensitive periods
3. Questions about Continuity/ Discontinuity
   - Is development a gradual, continuous process of change, or is it punctuated by periods of rapid change and the sudden emergence of new ways of thinking and behaving?
4. Questions about Individual Differences
   
   • No two human beings are exactly alike
   • How does a person come to have characteristics that make him or her different from all other people, and how stable are these characteristics over time?

Question 6

Psychodynamic Theories

Answer 6

Explore influence on the development and developmental stages of the universal biological drives and life experiences of individuals

         - Sigmund Freud: influenced by Darwin 
         - Erik Erikson

Question 7

Behaviorist Theories

Answer 7

Focus on development as a result of learning and on changes in behavior as a result of forming associations btw. Behavior and its consequences

          - Watson 
          - Thorndike 
          - Skinner

Question 8

Constructive Theory

Answer 8

Focus on children’s active construction of reality based on their experiences w/ the world

           - Piaget
           - Stages

Question 9

Sociocultural Theory

Answer 9

Emphasizes the influence of culture on the development

- Vygotsky

Question 10

Evolutionary Theories

Answer 10

Explain human behavior in terms of how it contributes to the survival of the species

Look at how our evolutionary past influences individual development

            - Darwin 
            - Ethologists

Question 11

Social Learning Theories

Answer 11

Focus on learning of associations between behaviors and their consequences

Emphasis on learning at occurs through the observation of, and interaction with, others
- Bandura

Question 12

Modeling

Answer 12

The process by which children observe and imitate others

Question 13

Self-efficacy

Answer 13

Beliefs about personal abilities to meet standards and achieve goals

Question 14

Information-Processing Theories

Answer 14

Look at cognitive development in terms of how children come to perceive, remember, organize, and manipulate information in increasingly efficient ways

Often include a description of mental functioning in terms of a computer

Question 15

Systems Theories

Answer 15

Envision development in terms of complex wholes made up of parts and explore how these wholes and their parts are organized and interact and change over time

Influential Types

Question 16

Dynamic Systems Theory

Answer 16

Addresses how new, complex systems of behavior develop from the interaction of less complex parts

Question 17

Ecological Systems Theory

Answer 17

Focuses on organization and interactions of the multiple environmental contexts within which children develop

Question 18

5 interrelated, nested systems

Answer 18

1. Microsystem
   ( a child’s immediate surroundings, e.g.: home, church, peer group, neighborhood, childcare center)
2. Mesosystem
   ( links face-to-face settings to one another; strength and nature of these connections are important for child development, e.g.: parents’ interaction with teachers, schools’ interaction with daycare providers)
3. Exosystem
   ( social institutions which affect children indirectly, settings that affect but do not usually include the child, e.g.: parents workplace, gov’t agencies, mass media, extended family networks, neighboorhood-community contexts)
4. Macrosystem
   ( broader cultural values, beliefs, laws, & governmental resources, e.g.: children in war-torn areas will experience a different kind of development than children in peaceful environments)
5. Chronosystem
   ( useful dimension of time, the influence of both change and constancy in the children’s environments, e.g.: a child who frequently bullies smaller children at school may portray the role of a terrified victim at home)