Ch. 1: Themes and TheoriesFive Major Themes of Dev. PsychInfluence of nature AND nurture in development-nature-nurture debate: one might have more influence over the otherHow does sociocultural context influence the development?Is development continuous or discontinuous?lipstick nose test: kids who touch their nose when placed in front of a mirror passrolling → crawling → pushing up → walking (strategies aren’t continuous)How do the various domains of development interact?-tall for your age = older than you actually are = more responsibilitiesWhat factors promote risk or resilience in development?Historical PerspectivesConcept of ChildhoodMedieval Times: children were seen as “little adults” and treated a suchno toys, had adult pastimes (gambling, chess, etc)16th Century attitude shift1545: Thomas Phayre publishes first book on pediatricsinvention of the printing press causes widespread distribution of infant and children care manualsfirst grammar schools establishedThe EnlightenmentJohn Locke: Tabula Rasa which theorizes that everyone is born with a blank slate mindJean Jacques Rousseau: children are noble savages; born with a propensity to act upon impulses but not know the consequences of their actionschildren should not be forced to learn important grown-up infoshould put emphasis on their natural curiosityBoth Locke and Rousseau stressed the importance of treating the child as developing and not in a static state of mindCharles Darwin and Wilhelm Preyerevolution of human beingsBaby Biographies: systematic study of the childG. Stanley Hall: founder of the field of developmental psychology (hey look it’s the course title!)questionnaire methods , data on large groups of childrenAlfred Binet: developed the first IQ testidentifies patterns of mental capabilities in each childTheories of DevelopmentBehaviorism: relies on principles of classical and operant conditioningSocial Learning Theory: theoretical approach emphasizing the importance of learning through observation and imitation of behavior modeled by othersCognitive Developmental Theory: an emphasis on active construction of psychological structures to interpret experience-Piaget was the founder of the CDT!Piaget’s Basic Principles of Cognitive Development*These are key “thought” processes that lead to a sense of perspectiveAssimilation: interpretation of new ideas/experiences to fit existing schemesAccommodation: changing existing schemes to fit new ideas/experiencesAssimilation and Accommodation create an equilibriumAdaptation: interplay between accommodation and assimilation → developmentOrganization: the tendency for structure and processes to become more systematic and coherentScheme: organized pattern of thought or behaviorStages of DevelopmentInformation Processing Approaches-Views humans as having a limited ability to process isnformation-language acquisition-peer relationshipsErikson’s Psychosocial ApproachFocuses on emotions and personalitysignificant roles for socialization and societycommon theme: a search for identitySystem ApproachesEcological Systems (Brofenbrenner): bioecological method of dev. influenced by:biological, social, and cultural systems including child’s immediate surroundingsmicrosystem: the immediate environment (home, school, neighborhood)mesosystem: environment provided by interrelationships among various settings of microsystemsexosystem: settings that indirectly affect the child by influencing the variant systemsmacrosystem: broad values, practices, customs shared by a culture (major historical events)chronosystem: constantly changing temporal component of environment that can influence development(Chronus: Greek god of time → chrono = prefix for time → chronosystem = ever-changing system)Sociocultural Theory (Vygotsky): emphasizes the importance of cultural tools, symbols, ways of thinking that the child acquires from more knowledgeable members of the communityDynamic Systems Theory: emphasizes development as the emerging organization arising from the interaction of many different processese.g. stepping reflexEthological Theory: concerns with evolutionary origins of behavior and its adaptive and survival in animals, also including humansSensitive period: a brief period in which specific kinds of experiences have significant positive or negative consequences for development and behaviorImprintingChapter 2: Studying Child DevelopmentMethods of Collecting Datamultiple methods of collecting data collection for studying developmentshowever, children do not have the same emotional and comprehensive capabilities as adults!Seven different ways to study researchCase Studies (Freud): Most common and widely used techniquerequires consent form and few activities for a child to doNaturalistic Observations (Bowlby): Watching children in natural habitat and making note of behaviors outside study centerStructured observations (Ainsworth) watching children react in a controlled setting but otherwise letting them react on their ownCross-cultural studies (Ainsworth): She (Ainsworth) wondered if parents indulged in the same behaviors in other countries and travelled elsewhere to find that they did notCorrelational Studies (Ainsworth) connection between attachment of mother and child vs. children who had no attachment to the motherdidn’t think it had a long term effect on childrenLongitudinal studies (Straufe): believed that the connection between mother and child at a young age did have a long-lasting effect on childrenExperimentsResearch DesignsCorrelational Design: systematic relationships among variablescorrelational studies: measuring 2+ characteristics of the participant’s and see whether changes in one variable are accompanied by changes in the other (you learn(ed) this in psych statistics!)positive correlation: as a variable changes, the other variable changes in the same directionnegative correlation: as a variable changes, the other variable changes in the opposite directionExperimental Design: changing the independent variable and observing its effects on the dependent variableCase Studies: a study, in the form of a narrative, of the psychological workings of an individualSingle-Case Design: follows one or a group of participants over a period of timeStrategies for Assessing Developmental ChangeHow do we know when kids are telling the truth?Tawlar experiments: children 7-10 rehearsed stories involving bullying to parentssome lies some truth: some were more