This is a complete summary of all mandatory materials for the UvA course developmental psychology. The summary contains content from the book, as well as the articles. I made and used this summary myself and scored an 8.1.
Chapter 1
Developmental world views
- Organismic world view: child = active in its own development (Piaget), through
interaction with environment.
- Mechanic world view: child will develop when stimulated, like a computer
(behaviourism).
Development research designs
- Cross-sectional: one test for different people in different age groups
- Longitudinal: test of individual over developmental period (multiple tests)
- Many longitudinal tests over a small period of time (information about transitions)
- Sequential: combination, to find cohort and time between measurement effects
Types of infant research
- Time and event sampling: write down activity and affect over time/per event
- Clinical method: observation + mild experimentation
- Experimental methods: dependent + independent variable
- Psychological testing: using standardized tests
Correlational studies
- Concurrent correlational studies are interested in the correlation between two
variables
- Predictive correlational studies try to make predictions about future development of
the person
Developmental functions: the way in which human typically grow and change with age.
- Continuous functions of increasing and decreasing ability
- Discontinuous functions: qualitatively different stages
- U-shaped functions: increase followed by decrease in ability (or vice versa)
Chapter 2
Theory of development: scheme/system of evidence-based ideas that tries to explain, predict
and describe behaviour and development. The motor skills that are acquire in the first years
are motor milestones.
Motor development
Maturational theories (Gesell): motor development proceeds from global to specific in two
directions
1. Cephalocaudal trend: control of the head happens first and over time, the control
shifts downward to the feet.
, 2. Proximodistal trend: development of motor control shifts from the centre (happens
first) of the body outward to more distal parts of the body.
These theories imply that maturation alone shapes motor development, but don’t account for
the individual differences in development between individuals.
Dynamic systems theory: individual = interacting dynamically in a system in which all parts
interact. Motor development depends on nervous system development, biomechanics in the
body, and environmental constraints and support.
Cognitive development
Piaget: children are active agents in shaping their own development and they learn to adapt to
their environment as a result of their cognitive adaptations. The adaptation relies on two
processes (functional invariants):
1. Assimilation: the incorporation of new experiences in their pre-existing schemes.
2. Accommodation: adaptation to new experiences by modifying pre-existing schemes.
Broad stages of development:
1. Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2 years): thought is based on perception and action and
internalised thinking is absent. Thinking = doing and object permanence is learned.
2. Preoperational stage (2 – 7 years): unable to coordinate aspects of a problem to solve
it. Egocentric worldview with animism (the idea that moving things are alive). No
logical framework for thought and centration (focussing all attention on one aspect of
a situation, with exclusion of others).
3. Concrete operations state (7 – 11 years): more logical/systematical reasoning, and no
centration (pass the conservation task).
4. Formal operations state (11 years +): abstract scientific thought (theorizing about
impossible events and items).
Information processing approaches: human mind is a complex system through which
information flows. The human mind gives an appropriate output for a certain input like a
computer. Cognition can be displayed through connectionist models. This is a bottom-up
view.
Constructivism: infants are not born with knowledge, but gradually construct knowledge.
They build their own cognition. Both Piaget and Gibson (information processing) are
constructivist views.
Vygotsky: the social environment is the most important for development (zone of proximal
development).
Behaviourism: development happens via the connection of stimuli and responses. This can be
done with classical conditioning (Pavlov) and operant conditioning (Skinner). The law of
effect states that people are more likely to perform an action when this leads to a positive
outcome.
, Ethological approaches: emphasis on the evolutionary origins of many behaviours. There is a
critical period in which an individual can obtain a skill.
Bolwby: attachment is a primary drive. This comes from experiments with monkeys
(Harlow) that show that monkeys prefer contact comfort. Monotropy: the infant has basic
needs for attachment with one significant person. This is also shown in the strange situation
test.
Freud: behaviour is determined by unconscious forces of which we are not aware.
1. Id: primitive collection of urges with which an individual begins life.
2. Ego: rational thought that controls urges of the id.
3. Superego: collection of ideals, morality.
Humanistic theories: focus on the individual’s own subjective experiences, motives, and
desires. Assumes that humans have a need for self-actualisation with different stages that
need to be fulfilled before the next stage can be fulfilled.
Gender development: development of the understanding that an individual is part of a gender
(gender constancy) and the need to perform gender-appropriate behaviours.
Social learning theory: the application of behaviourism to social and cognitive learning that
emphasizes the importance of observational learning. That is, learning by observation and
then copying the observed acts.
Issues with child development
1. Nature nurture issue: the debate whether development is the result of an individual’s
genes or the kinds of experiences the child has during development.
2. Stability vs change: the question of how stable certain traits are during development
and how much these traits are determined by experiences in early childhood. It turns
out that some traits are more stable than others.
Chapter 3
Two types of species
1. Precocial species: physically mobile and able from birth
2. Altricial species: helpless right after birth
Nativism: the view that poses that many skills and abilities are hard-wired into the brain.
Empiricism: the view that poses that humans are a blank slate upon birth.
Binet introduced mental age: individual’s level op mental ability relative to others. This is
different from the chronological age. Mental ability can be measures using an IQ-test.
1. The purpose of an IQ test is always to compare people’s scores with those of the same
population and age.
2. The average IQ is always 100. The test is standardized.
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