Social psychology

• Nature


  Genetic make-up passed down by an individual's biological parents
• Nurture


  External factors, such as childhood experiences, social interactions and culture
• It is important to think about how nature and nurture work together instead of thinking of them as in competition with each other
• A person's development begins at the moment of conception
• During pregnancy, environmental factors such as a mother's lifestyle choices and emotional health affect the development of the embryo or foetus
• After a child is born, their skills and character are significantly influenced and shaped by their family and caregivers, where they grow up and the behaviours and experiences they encounter
• Nature


  • hair colour
  • eye colour
  • face shape
• John Locke


  Experience is at the root of our reason and knowledge
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau


  Children should receive the maximum amount of freedom to explore and develop. Should start formal schooling aged 12 once they are able to think critically
• Sir Frances Galton


  First coined the phrase 'nature vs nurture'. Interested in whether human ability was genetic and went on to explore the role of inherited characteristics
• Twin studies


  Genetic make-up is an important focus. Identical twins share almost 100% of their genetic code, which means that any differences between them, such as in their height or behaviour must result from differences in their unique environments
• Adoption studies


  Help scientists to examine the effect of environment by looking at genetically related individuals growing up in different environments, or genetically unrelated individuals growing up in the same environment
• Victor, a young boy aged 11 or 12 who emerged from the woods in Aveyron, France, was abandoned in the woods at roughly 5 years old, could hear but had no speech, and never learned language skills even many years later
• Victor's case illustrates the importance of social experience for language skills
• It was difficult for Victor to change after his experience in the woods because his ways of being were ingrained in him from his most formative years of childhood
• Baltes' lifespan theory


  • Development continues across the entire life of an individual
  • There are multiple directions and multiple dimensions to human development
  • Individualised development can be measured as both growth and decline
  • Plasticity (or the ability to be shaped or moulded like plasticine) plays a role in human development
  • Sociological, cultural and economic influences or conditions can alter the natural path of development for certain individuals
  • Historical development patterns can influence current development patterns, based on the individual's perception of value and worth of those historical patterns
  • Human development has a multidisciplinary nature
• Elder's life course perspective

  • Lifespan development – human development and ageing are lifelong processes
  • Agency – individuals construct their own lives through the choices and actions they take within social structures (i.e. the opportunities and constraints of social arrangements) and historical circumstances
  • Time and place – the lives of people are embedded in and shaped by the historical times and places they experience over time
  • Timing – the developmental consequences of events and transitions are conditional on their timing in people's lives
  • Linked lives – people's lives are lived interdependently and socio-historical influences are expressed through networks of shared relationships
• Erikson's stage theory


  • Development of an individual throughout their whole life
  • Negotiation of challenges that could lead to issues that could be resolved in therapy
• Attachment theory was developed in the late 1960's by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst John Bowlby and developed by several psychologists, including developmental psychologist Mary Ainsworth
• Internal working model


  • The model of the self
  • The model of the other
  • The model of the relationship between the two
• The central idea of the internal working model is that the infant forms a model in their mind about how the world works and they use this to shape their behaviour
• Attachment types


  • Insecure-avoidant: Not upset at separation, child tends not to get close to parent when reunited, often the child turns away, not towards the parent, child often lacks a solid sense of self
  • Secure: Sees parent as a secure base, child sees themselves as worthy of their parent's love and attention, child has confidence parent will return and shows pleasure at reunion
  • Insecure-ambivalent: Likely to show distress at separation, child lacks a firm belief that the parent will return, child not easily able to feel worthy of affection from the parent, child has a pessimistic expectation
• The bonds children form with their parents or primary caregiver are important for social and emotional development in later life
• Attachment types


  • Insecure-avoidant
  • Secure
  • Insecure-ambivalent
• Insecure-avoidant


  • Not upset at separation
  • Child tends not to get close to parent when reunited
  • Often the child turns away, not towards the parent
  • Child often lacks a solid sense of self
• Secure


  • Sees parent as a secure base
  • Child sees themselves as worthy of their parent's love and attention
  • Child has confidence parent will return and shows pleasure at reunion
• Insecure-ambivalent


  • Likely to show distress at separation
  • Child lacks a firm belief that the parent will return
  • Child not easily able to feel worthy of affection from the parent
  • Child has a pessimistic expectation
• Verbal and non-verbal interactions such as talking, playing and physical contact can have a strong influence on a child's social, emotional and psychological development
• Secure attachment


  Considered an important part of 'good' social development. Supports children's ability to manage their feelings and behaviours and the way that they develop expectations about themselves and form relationships with others
• Insecure attachments


  Can develop as a result of deprivation, separation and unresolved grief. Can lead to short-term and long-term psychological problems. Early attachment patterns will also influence how children develop relationships with non-caregiving adults, siblings and parents
• Socio-cultural perspective


  A theory that suggests the way that a child builds knowledge is dependent on their culture and the people, ideas, and objects surrounding them
• Participation and collaboration with others are central to learning and development from a socio-cultural perspective
• The socio-cultural perspective was first developed by Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
• The socio-cultural perspective has similarities with Bowlby's internal working model, but broadens the idea out from just one significant caregiver to the whole range of people and indeed objects that a child will come into contact with
• Many theorists such as psychologist Barbara Rogoff have adapted and enhanced Vygotsky's ideas to provide further insights into how children's development revolves around collaboration and participation
• Rogoff (2003) stresses that children learn both as individuals and from those around them, especially their families
• Play (particularly how a child plays) is shaped by participation
• For a child to develop freely, they need to feel safe
• Rights of children presented in the UNCRC

  • The right to provision (housing, food, and education)
  • The right to protection (against exploitation and abuse)
  • The right to participation (to take part in decisions that impact them)
• Social, cultural and economic play an important role in a person's experience of childhood, and therefore who they become as adults