Unit 1

• Who was Piaget?


  Jean Piaget was a Swiss development psychologist.
• Piaget


  -Came to the conclusion children think differently to adults.

  -Children can't use abstract logic because they are not mature enough (no matter how well they are taught)
• Piaget


  -Infants use egocentric thinking which means that they can only understand the world from their own perspective.

  -Ability to think logically doesn't happen until the age of 7.
• Piaget Sensorimotor(0-2)


  -Infants think by interacting with the world using their eyes, ears hands and mouth.

  -Invents ways of solving problems such as finding hidden toys and putting objects into and taking them out of containers.

  -A baby wouldn't have a way of remembering and thinking about the world until they're 18 months.
• Piaget preoperational (2-7)


  -Development of language and make-believe takes place. -Children can't properly understand ideas like number, mass and volume and how they really work. -A child might be able to count to 100 but not understand what a set of 10 really means.
• Piaget Concrete Operational (7-11)


  -Children's reasoning becomes logical, providing the issues are Concrete.

  -May be able to understand logical principles
• Piaget Formal Operational (11-18)


  -Abstract thinking allows adolescents to reason through symbols that don't refer to objects in the real world, as is required in advanced maths.

  -Young people can also think of possible outcomes for a scientific problem, not just the obvious ones.
• The development of schemas


  The cycle

  
• Test of conservation piaget


  Somethings appearance may change but its quantity is still the same
• Criticisms of Piaget


  -Age/stages he describes may be more fluid than he thought.

  -Under/overestimated children's cognitive abilities

  -Children far less egocentric than Piaget suggests

  -Others say it takes children 11 years or longer to become skilled at abstract logical thinking

  -Cognitive development might not be a part of maturation, it could depend on a child's environment and the quality of their formal and informal education
• Chomsky 


  Believed that the ability to develop a signed or spoken language is genetically programmed into individuals, meaning all individuals have the ability to understand and use language regardless of other abilities and become fluent in their first language by age 5/6
• Chomsky LAD


  -Individuals are born with a 'language acquisition device' that enables children to recognise and develop the languages they experience.

  -A child couldn't learn a new language through imitation alone because of grammar and syntax of the language around them is often highly irregular.

  -Babies need to experience other people using language around them but don't need to be trained in order to speak.

  -Applied this to all languages not just English
• Criticisms of Chomksy


  -Lack of scientific evidence to support this theory

  -Social interaction in early stages of development is critical and has far more influence on children than Chomsky suggests.

  -Didn't take into consideration children who experience delayed language for a variety of reasons.
• Bowlby


  Refers to attachment as a deep and enduring bond that connects a child to their primary care giver.
• Bowlbys experience 


  -Originated in 1930s whilst working as a child psychiatrist treating emotionally disturbed children.

  -Began to consider a child's relationship with their mother.

  -Linked the importance of social, emotional and cognitive development to the relationship a child had with their mother.
• Bowlbys theories


  -Children are biologically preprogrammed to form attachments.

  -Infancy is a critical period for forming positive attachments
• Robertson and Bowlby


  -Observed that children experienced separation anxiety when away from their mothers.

  -Distress and anxiety didn't disappear when fed by another carer.

  -Infants have a universal need to seek close proximity with their caregiver when under stress or feeling threatened.
• Criticisms of Bowlby


  -Oversimplified his theory

  -Maternal deprivation may not result in long term problems, privation is far more damaging.

  -Privation happens when children haven't had the opportunity to form attachments or have poor quality attachments.

  -Bowlbys believed attachments are natural but others suggest it is learned behaviour.

  -Babies are more likely to form attachments to caregivers who respond effectively to their signals. This is called 'sensitive responsiveness'
• Gesell 


  Interested in children's biological maturation
• Gesell maturation theory


  -Developed a 'normative approach' observing large numbers of children to find the skills and abilities in each age group

  -Findings used to establish milestones for each development aspect

  -Each child moved through a sequence at their own pace

  -Development was pre determined and the environment had little influence.
• Criticisms of Gesell


  Maturation theory isn't helpful in explaining individual or cultural differences or for children with learning difficulties
• Baumrind


  Diana Baumrind identified three different parenting styles that she felt could contribute to the overall development of children.
• Baumrind authoritative


  -Parents are not overly strict

  -Children brought up to respect authority and develop appropriate boundaries

  -More resilient

  -Conform easily to social norms
• Baumrind Authoritarian


  -Parents have very high expectations often overwhelming their children with strict rules and regulations

  -Children are often rebellious

  -May become problematic both in family home and wider social settings
• Baumrind Permissive


  -Parents reluctant to implement rules or values into lives of their children

  -Children lack a sense of control as no boundaries or respect for personal space has been set

  -May later experience problems managing relationships and adult responsibilities
• Holmes-Rahe


  1967 developed a questionnaire called Social Readjustment Rating Scale which identified major stressful life events. Identifies 43 life events each with a different score for a stress level. Higher the score and importance of each event identified the more likely an individual was to become unwell
• Holmes and Rahe criticisms


  For some people the breakdown of a relationship and getting divorced can be an extremely stressful time yet others it can be a relief if divorce arrangements have been amicable

  For most people major life events aren't experienced very frequently but they can still experience stresses and strains in daily life. 'Daily hassels'
• Havighurst activity theory


  Explanation to ageing in the 1960s

  10 year study of older people showed that rather than an inevitable decline in interest in life and isolation, older people tend to adjust to the ageing process

  Theory based on the assumption that social and psychological needs of older people remain the same
• Havighurst


  May involve adjusting to changes in health and/or mobility but theorised that older peoples needs can be satisfied by taking on new roles following retirement such as charity work, joining social groups or learning a new skill
• Mary Ainsworth


  Developed a test known as the Strange Situation test which has now become a standard test for researching Infants respond to a slightly stressful situation
• Ainsworth Strange Situation test procedure

  -Infant brought into room with their mother and is allowed to explore the room and play with toys

  -Stranger enters the room and talks to the mother

  -Mother leaves infant with stranger for 3 minutes

  -Mother returns and stranger leaves

  -Mother remains with infant for 3 minutes
• Ainsworth secure attachment


  Child is very attached to their mother. Will explore and engage with others when the mother is in the room but when she leaves child will show negative emotions. When left alone with the stranger the child will avoid them
• Ainsworth Anxious-Resistant Insecure attachment


  Becomes irritated when stranger appears in the room while mother is still nearby. When mother leaves child can't explore and continue to play. They're very distressed. However, when the mother comes back, child acts resentful and upset to the mother, he tries to move away from her
• Ainsworth Anxious-Avoidant insecure attachment


  Child seems careless. Doesn't show much emotions whether mother is in the room or not. The child doesn't want to he played with or held. Child acts the same with the stranger
• Ainsworth Disorganised/Disorientated attachment


  Child is distressed when mother leaves the room and be relieved when she comes back. However Child may not want to be held or show anger once the mother approaches.
• Bandura 1961


  Conducted a study to investigate if social behaviours (e.g aggression) can be acquired by observation and imitation
• Bandura study results


  • Children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups
  • More partial and non-imitative aggression among those children who observed aggressive behaviour, although the difference for non-imitative aggression was small
  • Girls in aggressive model showed more physical aggressive responses if the model was female. An exception was how often they punched bobo (the doll) and the effects of gender were reversed
  • Boys more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls. Evidence for girls imitating same-sex models is not strong
• Social disengagement theory Cumming and Henry 1961


  -Outlines a process of disengagement from social life that people experience as they age and become elderly.

  -Overtime, elderly people withdraw from the social roles and relationships that were central to their life in adulthood.

  -As a functionalist theory, this framework casts the process of disengagement as necessary and beneficial to society as it allows the social system to remain stable and ordered
• Bandura


  Study

  
• Maslows hierarchy of needs