Theories of Development

• What is the idea of continuous development?


  development is a slow & gradual process
• what does continuous development see children as?

  mini adults
• development as a continuum what is the argument?

  children are not quantitatively different from adults - they have the same capabilities as adults mentally - the only difference is adults have more experience & knowledge
• What does non-continuous development argue?

  development happens from childhood + adulthood through developmentally distinct stages

  
  

  - where one must share their previous sense of self + the previous part of who they were to move onto the next stage
• what does non-continuous development argue about children and adults in psychological terms?

  that children and adults are quantitatively different in psychological terms

  - children will never be able to solve the problem in the same sophisticated way as an adult.
• what does nature say about development?


  development is a product of genetic inheritance
• what does nurture say about development?

  development is a product of environment & experience
• what does Skinner (behaviourist) argue?

  psychological phenomena can only be explained by only focusing on behaviour & the environment in which it occurs
• what is radical empiricism?

  the idea we should only be concerned with what we can directly observe through our senses
• what is denial of nativism?

  the idea we may have some innate predispositions/abilities as the focus is on how can we shape behaviour within the environment?
• How is our brain like the 'black box'?


  we can manipulate, determine, test and observe what's going in and what's coming out - so what happens inside the brain is a mystery
• what is reinforcement (positive & negative)


  a mechanism to shape behaviour in the way we want
• if successive approximations may not happen straight away what may we have to do?

  reinforce the behaviour in stages to get the child to reinforce the behaviour.
• what is the nativist view of development?

  development is hugely reliant on predetermined inheritance factors (biological + genetic inheritance) that drives our development
• Why does Chomsky criticise the idea of a behaviourist movement to try and explain development?

  children who grow up in the environment with little interaction with adults, can still develop language abilities
• What does Lorenz describe imprinting as?

  the process of attachment a baby animal forms with the first thing they encounter at birth.
• when is the critical period for imprinting?

  = time sensitive (10-30 hours)
• what is biological preparedness?

  a genetically determined readiness to learn specific skills
• what is maturational unfolding & stages?

  a genetically determined developmental progression
• what did Bowlby & Ainsworth suggest about attachment?

  it is a natural process under maturational control?

  - where the disruption of this process can have serious consequences
• at what age does separation distress show evidence of attachment?

  from 8-9 months
• what is the theory of constructivism?

  the idea knowledge is actively generated by the individual than shared by another person through one person's genes
• in the constructivist view what is children's thoughts about?

  their qualitatively different from adults + development isn't an evolution but revolution
• what is egocentrism as a stage development key principle?

  difficulty taking on board another person's perspective
• sensorimotor stage


  - 0-2 years: infancy

  - the failure to differentiate between self + surroundings
• pre-operational stage


  - 2-7 years: early childhood

  - Mental imagery without principled thought/
• Concrete Operational stage


  - 7-12 years: middle childhood

  - Principled thought is confined to real life issues.
• Formal Operational Stage


  - 12 + years: Adolescence and adulthood.

  - Principled thought applied to abstract problems.
• what is solipsism in the sensorimotor stage?

  the failure to distinguish between the self + the rest of the universe
• what does it mean to lack object permanence in the sensorimotor stage?


  to understand that things continue to exist, even when we can't sense them directly