PSYC Module 1 Notes

Question 1

Conceptions of Age

Answer 1

• Chronological age
• Biological age
• Psychological age
• Social age

Question 2

Life Stages

Answer 2

1. Prenatal
2. Infancy and toddlerhood
3. Early childhood
4. Middle childhood
5. Adolescence
6. Emerging adulthood

Question 3

Issues in Lifespan Development

Answer 3

• Nature vs nurture
• Continuity vs discontinuity
• Active vs passive
• Stability vs change

Question 4

Nature Theorists

Answer 4

study the biological maturation/impact of genes

Question 5

Nurture theorists

Answer 5

Believe we are born a blank slate and shaped by environment

Question 6

Continuity vs Discontinuity

Answer 6

Do humans develop in set stages (e.g. Piaget) or is it a gradual process that cannot easily be defined by stages?

Question 7

Active vs Passive Learning

Answer 7

Is a child an agent in their own learning (e.g. exploring and thinking) or are they just taking things in?

Question 8

Stability vs Change

Answer 8

Can people overcome early bad experiences and still live a “good” life?

e.g. if you’re a fussy baby, are you destined to be a cranky adult?

Question 9

What is the Performationist View?

Answer 9

The belief that newly fertilized egg is fully formed human with all faculties
- Was popular until the 1700s

Question 10

Historical Theoriests

Answer 10

John Locke: tabula rasa

Jean Jaques Rosseau: natural roadmap/when through stages

Arnold Jesell: fixed patterns based on motor maturity

Question 11

Sigmund Freud

Answer 11

• One of the first theorists to consider the impact of childhood experiences on development later in life
• He developed the theory of the unconscious mind
• He saw development in stages (1. Oral 2. Anal 3. Phallic 4. Latency 5. Genital)

Question 12

Freudian Slip

Answer 12

A supposed reveal of the unconscious mind

e.g. “Im showing you my first necropsychology lecture” instead of “Here are my first neuropsychology slides”

Question 13

Criticisms of Freud

Answer 13

• Difficulty to test scientifically
• Childhood experiences do not entirely determine adult personality
• Overly focused on sexual development
• Dark view of humanity/human behaviour

Question 14

Contemporary Theorists

Answer 14

Erik Erikson (psychoanalytic)

John B. Watson (behaviourist)

B.F Skinner (behaviourist)

Albert Bandura (social learning)

Jean Piaget (cognitive theory)

Lev Vygotsky (sociocultural theory)

Urie Brofenbrenner (information processing)

Question 15

Theory

Answer 15

• Established model or framework
• Can sometimes be disproved with repeated conflicting evidence

Question 16

Ian Pavlov

Answer 16

Created classical conditioning
- Includes an unconditioned stimulus, an unconditioned response, a conditioned stimulus, and a conditioned response.

Question 17

Behaviourism

Answer 17

Focus on response to environment and what can be directly observed

Question 18

Jon Watson

Answer 18

Famous for the quote:

“Give me a dozen healthy infants… and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train them to become any type of specialists i select”

Question 19

B.F. Skinner

Answer 19

Created operant conditioning
(humans select behaviours in response to consequences)

Question 20

Jean Piaget

Answer 20

Created constructivism (children construct learning through interaction with the environment)

Question 21

Criticisms of Piaget

Answer 21

• Development is continuous and there is overlap between the stages
• He possibly underestimated the ablities of many children
• Environmental and cultural differences

Question 22

Lev Vygotsky

Answer 22

• Believed cognitive abilities are socially constructed
• He believed language creates shared meaning
• Used sociocultual theory

Question 23

Sociocultural theory

Answer 23

Culture brings shared tools, language, and socially constructed meaning

Each baby is born with pre-set abilities but more potential can be unlocked by environment/culture

Behaviour develops meaning through social interaction

Question 24

Schemas

Answer 24

Are mental frameworks for aquiring knowledge
- Can include assimilation and accomodation

Assimilation: adding to existing schema

Accomodation: modifying a schema or creating a new one

Question 25

Zone of proximal development

Answer 25

- The gap between what a child can do independently vs with caregiver assistance - Scaffolding reduces the gap and the child becomes more independent in task e.g. gradually reducing assistance when a child is learning to walk

Question 26

Reinforcers

Answer 26

Increase likelihood of behaviour

Question 27

Punishers

Answer 27

reduce likelihood of behaviour

Question 28

Types of contingencies

Answer 28

1. Positive reinforcement 2. Negative reinforcement 3. Positive punishment 4. Negative punishment

Question 29

Positive

Answer 29

= adding something (not always a "good" thing) Positive punishment: adding something undesired to decrease behaviour - e.g. Swearing -> mouth washed with soap Positive Reinforcement: adding something desired to increase behaviour -e.g. Do homework -> get ice cream

Question 30

Negative

Answer 30

= removing something (not always a "bad" thing) Negative punishment: removing something desired to decrease a behaviour -e.g. Swearing while eating ice cream -> ice cream taken away Negative Reinforcement: performing a behaviour to remove something undesired e.g. Uncomfortable in the rain -> go inside

Question 31

Defining the negatives

Answer 31

Escape: stop something unpleasant -e.g. get out of rain if cold or wet Avoidance: avoid something unpleasant .e.g. Use umbrella to avoid getting wet in rain

Question 32

Types of reinforcers

Answer 32

Primary Reinforcers: unconditioned (e.g. food) Secondary Reinforcers: conditioned (e.g. Money to buy food)

Question 33

Immediate vs Delayed Reinforcement

Answer 33

Immediate: I give you candy right now for sitting down and listening Delayed: you get a treat after finals as a reward

Question 34

What is special about delayed reinforcers?

Answer 34

- They are under the control or rule of instructions - Delayed reinforcers don't work well for young children or animals

Question 35

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic

Answer 35

Intrinsic Reinforcer: Reinforced by behaviour itself (swimming is fun) Extrinsic Reinforcer: secondary reinforcer recieved for performing behaviour (you get ice cream for exercising in the pool)