PSY 101 1st Edition Lecture 7 Outline of Last Lecture I. Developmental psychologyOutline of Current Lecture II. Finish cognitive developmentIII. Social developmentIV. Other stage theoriesCurrent Lecture-Review: Stage Theories:-development is not gradual; occurs through steps-progression from one step to the next results from some major event (biological maturation, important new knowledge, conflict)-Four stages of cognitive development:1. Sensorimotor: (birth-2): simple sensory motor schemas get elaborated by assimilation(apply schema to a new object) and accommodation (change schema to fit new object); no object permanence until 8 months, no mental representations until late in the stage2. Pre-operational: (2-7): child has mental representations but can’t properly manipulatethem; failure on conservation tasks; egocentrism3. Concrete operations: (7-12): masters all conservation and perspective tasks; still bad at abstraction and theory4. Formal operations: (12+): abstract thought, theories (not just facts)-Beyond Piaget-Piaget was right about the general sequence and about nativism v empiricism of behaviorism-Children actually know even more than Piaget thought -Habituation: decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation-Ex: newborns become bored with a repeated stimulus, but renew their attention to a slightly different stimulus-Social development: why do children cling to their parents?-Rationalist answer: they “know what’s good for them”-Empiricist answer: mom gives food-Both are false: correct is the nativist answer: evolution has built in an attachment system into children and parents-Konrad Lorenz (1935): imprinting in ducks (built in attachment system between parents and younglings)-Harry Harlow (1959): Rhesus monkeys seek contact comfort more than milk, especially when frightened, one wire “mother” with bottle, one cloth “mother” that gives nothing (attachment process in humans)-John Bowlby (1969): attachment theory; young mammals have competing needs for safety and exploration; the attachment system is like a thermostat, balancing the 2 needs, the child will explore when it has a secure home base-Mary Ainsworth: the “strange situation”; attachment:1. mother and child2. stranger enters3. mother leaves (1st separation)4. mother returns, stranger leaves (1st reunion)5. mother leaves (2nd separation)6. stranger returns7. mother returns (2nd reunion)-Attachment styles-Secure: distress at separations, comfort at reunions-Anxious-ambivalent: anxiety throughout, not easily comforted-Avoidant: aloof and unmoved at all stages-a child’s style appears to result from the interaction of the quality of mothering, the culture, and the child’s innate
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