Chap.01.Revised

“Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007”

“This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:• any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;• preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or part, pf any images;• any rental, lease, or lending of the program.”


• Psychologists as “parenting experts”– John B. Watson

• Rigid feeding schedules• Traditional parenting makes children emotionally

weak

– Benjamin Spock• Urged open displays of affection• Avoid too much conflict over weaning and toilet

training

– The Internet Web site “Experts”

Perspectives on Development


Nature versus Nurture

• Idealists or Rationalists– Plato, Descartes

• Some knowledge is inborn

– Jean-Jacques Rousseau• All human beings are naturally good• Seek experiences that help promote growth

• Empiricists– John Locke

• Tabula Rasa– All knowledge is created from experience– Environmental factors change development


Nature versus Nurture

• G. Stanley Hall– Milestones were dictated by inborn

developmental plan• Identify norms

• John Watson– Behaviorism

• Children can be trained through manipulation of the environment

• “Little Albert”


Internal and External Influences

• Maturation– Genetically programmed sequential patterns

of change• Universal

• Sequential• Relatively impervious to environmental influences


Continuity-Discontinuity Issue

• Continuity– Quantitative change

• Discontinuity – Stages of development– Qualitative change



• Timing of Experience– Experience may be needed to trigger genetic

programs– Critical periods

• Goslings

– Sensitive periods• A time when a particular experience can be best

incorporated into the maturational process



• Behavior Genetics– Study of identical and fraternal twins– Adopted children studies

– Heredity affects a broad range of behaviors• Height, body shape, tendency towards obesity• General intelligence• Spatial visual ability• Reading disability• Alcoholism, schizophrenia, depression• Temperament – emotionality, activity, sociability



• Gene-Environment Interaction– Child’s genetic heritage may predict

something about environment

– Heritage may affect the way a child behaves with other people

– Children’s interpretations of their experiences are influenced by genetic tendencies



• Internal Models of Experience– A set of core ideas about the world,

him/herself, relationships with others – through which all subsequent experiences are filtered

• Aslin’s Model of Environmental Influence– 5 models of possible gene-environment

interaction (see next slide)


Aslin’s Model of Environmental Influence

Aslin’s Model


The Ecological Perspective

• Ecology – context in which each child develops– Urie Bronfenbrenner

• Children are raised in a complex social ecology

– Patterson’s research on origins of antisocial behavior• Parents using poor discipline• Rejection by peers• Academic difficulties• Deviant peer group

– Culture is a large influence• Individualism versus collectivism


Patterson’s Model


Vulnerability and Resilience

• Vulnerabilities – Difficult temperament, physical abnormality,

allergies, alcoholism

• Protective factors– High intelligence, good coordination, easy

temperament

• Facilitative environments encourage development

• Children high in protective factors show resilience even in difficult environments


Figure 1.3

Horowitz’sModel


Theories of Development

• Psychoanalytic Theories– Behavior is governed by unconscious as well

as conscious processes.– Sigmund Freud

• Libido • Defense mechanisms• Personality Structure

– Id, ego, superego

• Psychosexual Stages– Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital


Psychoanalytic Theories

• Eric Erikson– Psychosocial stages

• Children are influenced by cultural demands that are age related

• Children must interact in a positive way with the environment for a healthy personality to form

– Trust versus Mistrust» Caregivers must be responsive and loving» Mistrust may lead to difficulty in forming intimate

relationships as an adult


Cognitive-Developmental and Information-Processing Theory

• Jean Piaget– Adaptation - the nature of the human

organism is to adapt to its environment • Assimilation• Accommodation• Equilibration

– Stage theory of cognitive development• All children go through the same kinds of

sequential discoveries about their world• Children must progress through 4 distinct stages



• Lev Vygotsky

• Complex forms of thinking have their origins in social interactions– Scaffolding

• Guiding the child’s learning by a skilled social partner through modeling and structure

– Zone of Proximal Development• That range of tasks which are too hard to do for

the child by themselves but that they can do with the help of a skilled social partner



• Information Processing Theory– Explains how the mind manages information– Uses computer models to explain learning– Explicit theories about memory formation

• Sensory memory• Short-term memory• Long-term memory

- Identified both age-related and individual differences in information processing


Figure 1.4 Information Processing Research


Learning Theory

• Classical Conditioning - Ivan Pavlov– Influences emotional responses

• Operant Conditioning – B.F. Skinner– Operant conditioning

• Positive reinforcement• Negative reinforcement• Punishment


Learning Theory

• Social Cognitive Theory – Albert Bandura– Observational learning or modeling

• Can be used for learning both abstract concepts and concrete skills

– Intrinsic reinforcement • Internal reinforcers such as pride

– Does not indicate developmental changes that accompany age


Comparing Theories

• Assumptions– Active or passive?– Nature or nurture?– Stability or change?

• Usefulness– Generate predictions?– Heuristic value?– Practical value?

• Eclectic Approach


Questions to Ponder?

• Examine your own childhood

– What are three influential factors from your childhood environment that helped to shape who you are today?

– What are three important biological or genetic traits that helped to shape who you are today?


Research Designs and Methods

• Four Goals for the scientific study of human development– Describe

– Predict

– Understand

– Influence


Age-Related Changes

• Cross-Sectional Designs– Cross-sectional research is very useful

because it is relatively quick to do

– Can give indications of possible age differences or age changes

– Cohort – age-related differences due to grouping by age


Age-Related Changes

• Longitudinal DesignsOnly by studying the same children over time

(that is, longitudinally), can developmentalists identify consistencies (or changes) in behavior across age

• Study of individuals or groups over a long period of time

• Can identify individual differences and compare them to group differences


Age-Related Changes

• Sequential Designs

– Allow for comparison of cohorts while incorporating some degree of individual differences.


Figure 1.5 A HypotheticalSequential Study of Attention Span


Identifying Relationships Between Variables

• Naturalistic Observations

– Observe people in their normal environments

– Observer bias

– Have limited generalizability

• Case Studies

– In-depth examinations of single individuals

– Extremely useful in making decisions about individuals

– Frequently the basis of important hypotheses about unusual developmental events


Identifying Relationships Between Variables

• Correlations

– Number ranging from

-1.00 to +1.00

– Describes the strength of a relationship between two variables

• Positive correlation – High scores on one

variable are usually accompanied by high scores on the other

• Negative correlation– Two variables that

move in opposite directions


Limits of Correlations

They do not reveal causal relationships

That is, one variable does not cause another

to occur


Experiments

• Control Group

– Dependent variable

• Experimental Group

– Independent variable

• Quasi-experiments


CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH

– Ethnography • Extensive study of one culture

– Direct comparison of two or more cultures• Fernald & Morikawa (1993)

– 30 Japanese mothers and infants were compared to 30 American mothers and infants


Figure 1.6


• Protection of animal rights and human subjects

– Protection from harm– Informed consent– Confidentiality– Knowledge of results– Deception

RESEARCH ETHICS

“Copyright @ Allyn & Bacon 2007”

1Prenatal Development And

BirthEnd Show

“This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:• any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;• preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or part, pf any images;• any rental, lease, or lending of the program.”

Technology

Chap.01.Revised