PSY 213 1st Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture I The life span perspective II Types of contextual influences III Contemporary concerns in life span development IV Biological cognitive socioeconomic processes V Periods of development VI Development issues Outline of Current Lecture I Theories of development II Cognitive theories III Behavioral and social cognitive theories IV Ethological theory V Bronfenbrenner s ecological theory Current Lecture I Theories of development Psychoanalytic theories Cognitive theories Behavioral and social cognitive theories Ethological theory Ecological theory These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute An eclectic theoretical orientation Scientific method A four step process that we use when looking at research Conceptualize a process or problem to be studied what do I want to study Collect research information surveys interviews recruit them follow them long term Analyze data Draw conclusions what does the data reveal Theory interrelated coherent set of ideas that helps to explain phenomenon and to facilitate predictions Hypotheses the assumptions and predictions that we make have to be tested Psychoanalytic theories Describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion Freud s theory a lot of what we do is based on sex and aggression he emphasized the importance of the early parent child relationship recognized there was something unique and influential about it Early relationship is critical Erikson s psychosocial theory Eight stages of development unfold as we go through life We go through stages and how we go through previous stage effects how we go through the next II Cognitive theories Piaget s cognitive developmental theory Emphasize the importance of thought Children go through 4 stages of cognitive developmentAs they actively construct their own world Each stage involves new things Not just building on previous stage Weakness said that every kid kind of goes through the same things we cant understand cognitive developlment unless we know what environment they are growing up in Vygotsky s sociocultural cognitive theory Vygotsky s theory Emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development Information processing theory Emphasizes that individuals Manipulate information Monitor it Strategize about it III Behavioral and social cognitive theories Development can be described in terms of behaviors learned through interactions with our surroundings a Skinner s operant conditioning b Bandura s social cognitive theory Heavily emphasize the environment extreme side of nurture behavioral and social cognitive theorists look up the other way of learning Operational conditioning how we learn is mainly related to being rewarded and punished This doesn t explain all of our behavior IV Ethological theory Ethology Study of the behavior of animals in their natural habitat and trying to explain human behavior based on these observations a Theory stresses that behavior is i Strongly influenced by biology genetic factors ii Tied to evolution iii Characterized by critical or sensitive periods there are certain times where our brains are primed for learning Sensitive period period of time where we are best suited for certain types of development Critical period certain time where you can learn a skill But once you pass that period you can not learn it anymore look up the case of genie b John Bowlby Attachment to a caregiver over the first year of life has important consequences throughout the life span V Bronfenbrenner s ecological theory In order to understand development we have to understand the environment in which they live 1 First level microsystem direct interactions parent child husband wife brother sister 2 Second level mesosystem home and school child care and home immediate neighborhood connections between microsystem 3 Third exosystem doesn t t impact directly but still affects child Fathers boss is mean dad comes home and is in a bad mood effects child Extended family members could fall in here as well 4 Fourth macrosystem gov social policies cultural values current economy Chronosystem temporal dimension or time dimension the timing of events also effects the development Parents getting divorced effects a teenager differently than an infant Evaluation Contributions include Systematic examination of macro and micro dimensions of environmental systems Attention to connections between environmental systems Emphasis on a range of social contexts beyond the family Criticism Giving inadequate attention to biological factors Too little emphasis on cognitive factors