DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Own summary (book)
Block 2A
Legende:
Dvlp. = developmemtal
Rs. = researcher
HD = human development
Betw. = between
Chapter 1: Understanding Life-Span Human Development
1.1 How Should We Think about Development?
Development defined as:
- systematic changes & continuities over life span
- gains, losses & neutral changes in physical, cognitive & psychosocial functioning
- more than growth (childhood) & biological aging (adulthood)
Context & History:
- historical, cultural & subcultural context
- influenced by age grades, age norms & social clocks
- concepts changed over history in Europe & US, differ in cultures
- 17th century: children seen as innocents;
- late 19th century: adolescence emerged as distinct phase;
- only 20th century: recognition of emerging adulthood, middle-aged “empty nest”
period & old age with retirement
Nature-nurture:
- nature-nurture issue
understanding interaction of biology & maturation with environment & learning
1.2 What Is the Science of Life-Span Development?
Historical Development:
- goals of description, prediction, explanation & optimization, began with Darwin etc.
- American psychologist Stanley Hall:
o use of questionnaires & attention to all phases of life span, (also storm &
stress of adolescence)
o Hall = founder of developmental psychology
- Paul Baltes:
o modern assumptions about life-span perspective on human development:
(1) occurs throughout life span
(2) can take many different directions
(3) gains & interlinked losses (at every age)
(4) characterized by plasticity
(5) affected by historical & cultural context
(6) influenced by interacting causal factors
(7) understood if scholars from multiple disciplines work together
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,1.3 How Is Development Studied?
Methods:
- scientific method formulating theories & testing hypotheses
o derived from theory by conducting research with sample (best: random
sample) representative of larger population of interest.
o Good theories = internally consistent, falsifiable & supp. by data
- Commonly: verbal reports, behavioral observations (naturalistic, structured) &
physiological measures.
- experiments best way to explain development
o random assignments to conditions, manipulation of IV & experimental control
o but: not all dvlp. issues studied with experiments for ethical reasons
- Case studies often limited generalizability
- Correlational studies directionality- & third variable problems (when aiming for cause-
effect conclusions)
- Developmentalists use meta-analyses
synthesize results of multiple studies of same issue
- Developmental research aims to describe age effects on development
o Cross-sectional studies compare different age groups but confound age
effects and cohort effects
o Longitudinal studies study age change but confound age effects and time-of-
measurement effects
o Sequential studies combine the cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches
1.4 What Challenges Do Developmental Scientists Face?
Challenges:
- to understand human development, researchers must:
o study it in variety of ecological contexts
o develop culturally sensitive methods & measures
o keep own cultural values/ethnocentrism from biasing conclusions
- standards of ethical research practice:
o informed consent
o debriefing individuals when withheld information
o protecting participants from harm
o maintaining confidentiality of data
Chapter 2: Theories of Human Development
2.1 Developmental Theories & The Issues They Raise
- Theories organize & explain facts of HD
o theories should be intern. consistent, falsifiable & supported by data
- The four major issues in Human Development:
o nature & nurture
o activity & passivity
o continuity & discontinuity
o universality & context specificity
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, - Biological needs drive development, but parents affect a child’s success in dealing with
conflicts & can contribute to emotional problems (especially if overly restrictive/
punitive)
- Erik Erikson (neo-Freudian) compared to Freud:
o emphasized social influences more than biological urges
o ego more emphasis than ID
o more optimistic view of human nature
o theorized about whole life span
- Erikson’s psychosocial theory:
o development proceeds through 8 psychosocial stages
issues of trust
autonomy
initiative
industry
identity
intimacy
generativity
integrity
o Parents, peers & larger culture influence how conflicts are resolved
- Although benefits of Freud’s theory:
o attention to unconscious
o early experiences in family
o emotional aspects of development,
- downsides of Freud’s theory:
o not easily falsifiable
o many specifics lack support
- Although Erikson broadened Freud’s theory & considered whole life span, his theory
partly also difficult to test
2.2 Psychoanalytic Theory
- Freud’s psychoanalytic theory:
o humans are irrational beings
o driven by inborn biological instincts (largely unconscious)
o personality consists of: id, ego, and superego (that order)
- Libido rechanneled across five psychosexual stages:
o oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital
o Each stage involves psychic conflicts that can
result in fixation at stage
create need for defense mechanisms
have lasting effects on personality
2.3 Learning Theories
- Learning theorists
humans change gradually & develop in many directions depending on environmental
- Behaviorist Watson focused on Pavlov’s classical conditioning in the learning of
emotional responses
- Skinner highlighted operant conditioning & roles of reinforcement and punishment
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, - Bandura’s social cognitive theory:
o importance of cognitive processes in learning
o observational learning as most important type of human learning
o self-efficacy reciprocal determinism among person, behavior, and
environment shapes development
- Learning theories are:
o well supported & applicable across life-span
o but DON’T necessarily explain normal developmental changes
o UNDERemphasize biological influences on development
2.4 Piaget: Cognitive Developmental Theory
- Piaget’s cognitive developmental perspective
o humans adapt to- & create new understandings of world
o through active interactions with world (constructivism)
- interaction of biological maturation & experience:
children progress through four universal, invariant & qualitatively different
stages of thinking:
o sensorimotor,
o preoperational,
o concrete operational,
o formal operational
- great influence of Piaget
- but: critique for his concept
o broad stages incorrect
o underestimated young children
o lacks social- & cultural influences on development (Vygotsky’s sociocultural
perspective)
o too little emphasis on cognitive processes such as attention & memory
(information-processing approach)
2.5 Systems Theories
- Systems & contextual theories:
o development as product of ongoing transactions
o & mutual influence betw. individual & environment
- Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model:
o person & environment (at the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and
macrosystem levels) as mutually influencing each other over time
(chronosystem)
- Bronfenbrenner development-producing proximal processes
- Bronfenbrenner study process, person, context & time in his PPCT model
- BUT: Systems theories are incomplete & DON’T provide coherent picture of HD
2.6 Theories in Perspective
- 20th century: stage theories:
o Freud’s emphasizing biological forces
way to learning theories emphasizing environmental influences
Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory
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