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Histories, Theories and Methods

Chapter One

Reasons for Studying Development

– Are there really differences between men and women in behavior, emotions, or abilities?

– Does your culture, family, or neighborhood affect how you turn out?

– Why do people become depressed, anxious, psychotic, dependant on drugs?

– Why do some people develop cognitive disabilities, personality disorders, learning or attention disorders?

– Can we improve the conditions of development, prevent some problems from developing, and help people live longer, more fulfilling lives?

Traditional views on children

Children were:

• Considered to be

evil and uncivilized

• treated as property

• Discipline was

harsh

• They had no rights,

but lots of

responsibility.

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Child Development Pioneers

• John Locke (late 1600’s) – believed children

came into the world “Tabula Rasa” or blank slate

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (early to mid 1700’s)–

believed children were inherently good and

when allowed to express natural impulses

generous morality would develop

• Early 1900’s-(Industrial Revolution) laws were

passed to protect children

Child Development Pioneers Continued

• G. Stanley Hall (late 1800’s) – founded child

development as an academic discipline as well

as researched adolescents resulting with the

label of “storm and stress” for the adolescent

developmental stage

• Alfred Binet/Theodore Simon (late 1800’s) –

developed first intelligence test intended to

identify public school children at risk of failing

Developmental Theories

• Learning Theory – Focus is on experience

(nurture) shaping the individual (John B.

Watson)

• Maturation View – Physical aspects of growth

and development (nature) influence the

individual’s experience (Arnold Gessell)

• Psychoanalytic Perspective – Conflict between

external demands and internal desires of child

results in hidden battles

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The Psychoanalytic Perspective

Freud’s Psychosexual Development

• Focus on emotional and social development

• Psychological traits of importance are dependence,

obsessive neatness, and vanity

• Three parts of the personality – the id, the ego, the

superego

- Id represents biological demand and instant

gratification present at birth

- Ego is conscious and seeks gratification but avoids

social disapproval

- Superego is conscious and monitors the intentions and

behavior of ego by allowing guilt and shame for behavior

Five Stages of Psychosexual Development

• Stage 1 – Oral stage, focus on oral activities such as

sucking, first year of life

• Stage 2 – Anal stage, focus control and elimination of

bodily waste products, toilet training stage of life

• Stage 3 – Phallic stage, parent/child conflict over child’s

personal sexual exploration, parent of same sex seen as

a rival

• Stage 4 – Latency stage, sexual feelings remain

unconscious, children play with same sex playmates,

focus on schoolwork

• Stage 5 – Genital stage, begins with biological changes

in adolescence resulting in desire for intercourse

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Contributions of Freudian Theory

• Influenced how child care workers

approach infants, toddlers and

preschoolers, esp. toilet training

• Influenced teachers’ sensitivity to students’

emotional needs

• Influenced the stage models of other

theorists such as Erikson

Limitations of Freudian Theory

• Theory developed on contacts with mostly

women with emotional problems

• Based on recollections rather than controlled

observational methods

• Inadvertent guiding of patients’ reports may

have happened to support his theories

• Too much emphasis on basic instincts and

motives

Erikson’s Psychosocial Development

• Focuses on development of emotional life, psychological traits and self-identity.

• Looks at importance of social relationships

• Emphasis is on the ego, or conscious sense of self

• Physical maturation contributes to development

• Mastery of developmental tasks at each stage needed to move to next stage

• Early experiences of parent/child relationship affect future developments and/or accomplishments

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Contributions of Erikson’s Theory

• Emphasize importance of human consciousness

and choice

• Minimize role and threat of poorly perceived

urges

• Portray human development as prosocial

• Some empirical support that positive outcomes

of early life help children cope with life crises at

later stage

Learning/Behavior Theory

Classical Conditioning

• Developed by Pavlov;

• Reflex (automatic) stimulus for a behavior is

associated with a new stimulus for that behavior

• Bell (automatically wakens child) is paired with

tension in child’s bladder so the child learns to

wake up when his bladder is full.

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Operant Conditioning

• Developed by Skinner;

• Learning occurs due to its reinforcement

effect. You are more likely to repeat

behaviors that are reinforced (or bring

about a positive state of affairs for you)

• Child learns that a grade of an “A” gets

them praised by their parents and

therefore they try harder to get “A’s”

Reinforcement

• Positive reinforcers – increases the frequency of behaviors when they are applied (ex. Food and approval)

• Negative reinforcers – increases the frequency of behaviors when they are removed (ex. Fear of failure is removed when one studies for their test)

• Extinction – results from repeated performance of operant behavior without reinforcement (ex. Child’s temper tantrum stops when parent leaves the room)

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Punishment

• Punishment – aversive events that decrease the

frequency of the behavior they follow

• Not an ideal way to control behavior:

– Does not suggest alternative behavior

– Suppresses undesirable behavior only when

its delivery is guaranteed

– May cause child to withdraw from the situation

– Can increase hostility

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Social Cognitive Theory

• Developed by Bandura;

• Learning occurs by observing other people, by reading, by engaging in different media

• Observational learning occurs through modeling the same behavior of another person

• Observational learning can lie latent until the behavior observed is needed or applicable

The Cognitive Perspective

• Cognitive Developmental Theory

• Information Processing Theory

Focus on how children think about the world,

logic, and problem solving

Cognitive-Developmental Theory

• Developed by Piaget; intrigued by children’s wrong answers; children seen as active participants

• Scheme – pattern of action of mental structure that is involved in acquiring or organizing knowledge

• Adaptation – interaction between the organism and the environment

• Assimilation – process of responding to new objects or events according to existing schemes

• Accommodation – Scheme is changed to incorporate novel object or event

• Equilibration – balance achieved by assimilating new events into existing scheme

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Four Stages of Cognitive Development

• Stage 1 – Sensorimotor, (birth to 2 years); focus on sensory exploration; object permanence mastered

• Stage 2 – Preoperational (2 to 7 years); focus on language and symbolic expression through play; children are egocentric

• Stage 3 – Concrete operational (7-12 years); focus on mastering concepts such as reversibility

• Stage 4 – Formal operational (12 years and older); ability to abstract reason

See Table 1.2

Information Processing Theory

• Based on computer model of information processing

• Cognitive process consists of encoding information (input), storing the information into long-term memory, retrieving the information (or placing it in short-term memory), and manipulating the process to solve problems

• Most applicable to the teaching of methodological steps (examples: teaching the scientific method or teaching the steps to withdrawing blood)

Biological Perspective

• Directly relates to physical development such as gains in height and weight; development of the brain; and developments connected with hormones, reproduction, and heredity

• Looks at development ethologically

• Ethology looks at inborn, instinctive, behavior patterns

• Fixed action patterns – built in or instinctive behaviors (example: birds migrating to same place; sex hormone secretion during prenatal development resulting in masculine or feminine patterned brain)

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Ecological Perspective

• Developed by Bronfenbrenner; looks at bi-

directional interactions not just maturational

forces or child-rearing practices; systems

approach recognizing that there are systems

imbedded in other systems which influence

behavior and development (example: the

behavior of a child is influenced by parents,

peers, teachers, social groups, socio economic

status, etc.)

Bronfenbrenner’s Systems Approach

• Microsystem – interactions of the child with other people in the immediate setting such as the home, school or peer group

• Mesosystem – interactions of various settings with the microsystem such as the parent-teacher conference or the school field trip to the zoo

• Exosystem – institutions which indirectly affect the development of the child such as the school board or the parent’s place of employment

• Macrosystem – involves the interaction of the child with the beliefs, expectations, and lifestyle of their cultural setting

• Chronosystem – refers to the influence that the changes over time have on development

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Sociocultural Perspective

• Developed by Vygotsky

• Humans are affected by the cultural and social

environment in which they are born

• Focus is on the transmission of information and

cognitive skills from generation to generation

• Learning consists of social engagement from a

more skilled individual to a lesser skilled

individual (example: an older sibling teaching a

younger sibling to ride a bike)

Sociocultural Terms

• Zone of Proximal Development – refers to a range of tasks that a child can carry out with the help of a more skilled apprentice

• Inner Speech – occurs when the outward speech used to walk one through a difficult task becomes embedded within the child

• Scaffolding – problem solving methods such as cues provided to the child to increase independent functioning

• Diversity – consists of one’s ethnicity, race, gender, age etc.

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Controversies in

Developmental Psychology

Nature/Nurture Controversy

• Age old question of which is more influential in development – nature (heredity) or nurture (environmental influences)?

• Natural causes of development studied are genetic heritage (twin studies used frequently), the functioning of the nervous system and maturation

• Environmental causes of development studied are nutrition, cultural and familial backgrounds, educational opportunities, cognitive stimulation during early childhood and formal education

Continuity/Discontinuity Controversy

• Continuous perspective views development as a

process where the effects of learning mount

gradually, with no major qualitative changes

• Discontinuous perspective views development

as a number of rapid qualitative changes

ushering in new stages of development

• Freud and Piaget were discontinuous theorists

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Active/passive Controversy

• Active perspective maintains children are actively engaged in their development (example: child explores and learns more about dolphins due to their interest)

• Passive perspective maintains that children are passive and the environment acts on them to influence development (example: child learns violin from the teacher)

Developmental Research Methodologies

• Naturalistic observation – research conducted in

the natural setting. Observer takes great pains

not to disturb the environment. Interference can

result in “bias” in the research results; effective

when studying cultures

• Case study – carefully drawn account of an

individual’s behavior; may use diaries,

questionnaires, standardized tests, interviews,

information from public records

Correlational Studies

• Correlation – attempt to determine whether one behavior or trait being studied is correlated or indicates a relationship with another behavior or trait; never indicates cause and effect

• Correlation coefficient – this is a statistical index ranging from -1.00 to +1.00; the closer to -1.00 or +1.00 the stronger the correlation

• Positive correlation – statistical relationship where increases or decreases in measurement correspond with increases or decreases in the other (example: attendance increased and grades increased)

• Negative Correlation – statistical relationship which increases in one measure are matched with a decrease in the other (example: attendance increased, however, grades decreased)

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Experimental Method

• Preferred method for investigating cause and effect

• One group receives the treatment and the other group does not; experiments test a hypothesis/es

• Variables – experiments have independent and dependent variables

-independent variable is manipulated

-dependent variables are the measured results

Experiments Continued

• Experimental group – receives the treatment

• Control group – does not receive the treatment

• Random assignment – subjects assigned to a group

randomly

• Ethical/practical consideration – researchers look at the

ethics and practical assignment of participants;

sometimes correlational evidence must be settled for

rather than experimental

• Animal subjects – used to generalize findings to humans

when it is not ethical or practical to use humans in the

experiment

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Longitudinal Research

• Seeks to study development over time; some

subjects’ characteristics such as height, weight,

and/or changes in mental capabilities observed

repeatedly over time; a larger number of

participants is needed for this type of study

• Typically time of study spans months or a few

years

• Longitudinal researchers have to enlist future

researchers to continue the study

Cross-sectional Research

• Cross-sectional research observes and

compares subjects of different ages; a larger

number of participants is needed for this type of

study

• Cohort effect – group of people born at the same

time; experience cultural and other events

unique to their age group; children of a particular

cohort will have different life experiences than

their parents

Cross-sequential Research

• Combines longitudinal and cross-sectional

methods to overcome research drawbacks

• Full span of the ideal longitudinal study is broken

up into convenient segments

• Minimizes the number of years needed to

complete a study

• Time-lag comparisons are used

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Researcher’s Ethical Considerations

• Do no physical or psychological harm

• Informed consent is needed

• Participation must be voluntary

• Participants can withdraw from study

• Participants are offered information about the study

• Identities of participants remains confidential

• Research plans are to be presented to a committee of colleagues and gain the committee’s approval before proceeding