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A Contemporary ViewpointA Contemporary Viewpointbyby

Hetherington Hetherington && Parke Parke

Child Psychology

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Chapter One

Child Development:Child Development:

Themes, Theories, and MethodsThemes, Theories, and Methods

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Themes of Development

• Themes focus on theories and study of psychological development

• Main theoretical views guide research

• Specific processes and experiences may account for different aspects of child development

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Field of Child Development

• Sub-area of child psychology– Identify and describe changes in child from

beginning of life to adolescence• Cognitive• Emotional • Motor • Social capacities and behaviors

– Uncover processes underlying the changes• Use of research• Suggest practical applications based on

research

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Themes of Development

• Themes focus on theories and study of psychological development

– Origins of human behavior

– Pattern of developmental change over time

– Individual and contextual forces that define and direct child development

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Themes of Development

• Biological versus Environmental Influences: nature vs. nurture

– Disagreement on which influences development the most

– Genetic or biological processes unfoldnaturally in maturation

– Environmental events can shape, modify

– Children are active agents

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Themes of Development

• Continuity versus Discontinuity

– Continuous process: each new event builds on earlier experiences in orderly way or gradual improvement

– Discontinuous process: development occurs in discrete steps or stages; each stage is a qualitatively new set of behaviors

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Themes of Development

• Individual Characteristics versus Contextual and Cultural Influences

– Individual and personality characteristics direct behaviors

– Environmental influences (family income, education, death, divorce, remarriage)

– Interactionist view: adopt both

– Resilience or “sleeper” effects?

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Theoretical Perspectives on Development

• Two functions of theories

– Organize and integrate existing information into coherent, interesting, plausible accounts of how children develop

– Generate testable hypotheses or predictions about child behavior

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Theoretical Perspectives on Development

• Five general theoretical perspectives

– Structural-Organismic Approach focuses on structured set of stages an organism goes through over the course of psychological growth (structuralism)

– Used in Freud, Erikson, and Piaget’s theories

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Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory

Age 0 - 1 Oral Stage

Age 1 - 3 Anal Stage

Age 3 - 6 Phallic Stage

Age 6 - 12 Latency Stage

Age 12+ Genital Stage

Ego

Id

Super Ego

Freud:Personality is

formed within the first 6 years

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Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Ages 1 - 3

Ages 3 - 6

Ages 6 - 12

Ages 12 - 20

Ages 20 - 30

Ages 30 - 65

Ages 65+

Ages 0 - 1

Identity vs. Role confusion

Industry vs. Inferiority

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Trust vs. Mistrust

Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt

Initiative vs. Guilt

Integrity vs. Despair

Generativity vs. Stagnation

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Piaget’s Periods of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor

Pre-operational

Concrete Operational

Formal Operational

Age

0 - 2 7 - 12 12+2 - 7

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Piaget’s Principle of Adaptation

Adapt to newinformation

AccommodationAssimilation

Reinterpret new experiences so they fit into old ideas – existing ideas don’t change, stay same

Revamp old ideas so they can adapt to new – change current ways of thinking/ideas so as to

add new knowledge

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Theoretical Perspectives on Development

• Five general theoretical perspectives

– Learning Approach

• Behaviorism focuses on learning of behavior; not unobservable factors or motivations (Watson, Pavlov, Skinner)

• Classical Conditioning

• Operant Conditioning

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Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning

Pairing of metronome with appearance of food makes each a Conditioned Stimulus

CR (salivation)CS

Play metronome (CS) and dog salivates (CR) without food being presented

Appearance of food becomes CS; dog salivation is the CR

Before conditioning: when food was placed in dish (UCS), the dog salivated (UCR)UCR (salivation)Neutral stimulus

(metronome)UCS

CSCS CR (salivation)

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Watson’s Classical Conditioning

UCS (loud noise)

CR (fear)

CS (furry rat)

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Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

Task: study for a quiz

If grades or parents’ urging are not a ‘reward’ (reinforcement), student will do other activities

If grades or parents’ urging are a ‘reward’ (reinforcement), student will study well

Consequences can reinforce or decrease chances of behavior occurring again

Quiz grade of A earned

Quiz grade of F

earned

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Theoretical Perspectives on Development

• Five general theoretical perspectives

– Learning Approach

• Cognitive Social Learning Theory: children learn through behaviorism and from observation and imitation of role models (Bandura’s process of imitation)

• Information-Processing Approaches focus on flow of information through the cognitive system (brain is like computer)

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Matched Behavior

ATTENTION Experience, Personality characteristics,

Relationship with model, Situational variables

RETENTIONRehearsal, Organization, Recall, Other cognitive skills

REPRODUCTIONCognitive representation, Concept matching, Use of feedback

Modeled Behavior

MOTIVATIONExternal & Vicarious incentives, Self-evaluation,

Internalized standards, Social comparison

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Information is taken into brain

Information gets processed, analyzed, and stored in the brain

until use

OUTPUTINPUTInformation is used as basis of behaviors and

interactions

Information-Processing Theory

math

historyreligion

sciencegeography

literature

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Theoretical Perspectives on Development

• Five general theoretical perspectives

– Dynamic Systems Perspective focuses on changes over time that result from interacting elements in a complex, integrated system

– Individuals and their achievements canonly be understood within thisframework

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Theoretical Perspectives on Development

• Five general theoretical perspectives

– Contextual Perspectives

• Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory – development is product of social and cultural experiences

– Emphasizes importance of cultural variation in development – cultural tools include language, technology

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Theoretical Perspectives on Development

• Five general theoretical perspectives

– Contextual Perspectives

• Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory – experiences and relationships in layers of environmental systems impact child development

• The life-span perspective

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Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model of Development

Child

MICROSYSTEM

CHRONOSYSTEM

EXOSYSTEM

MESOSYSTEM

MACROSYSTEM

Social welfare services

Legal services

Massmedia

Neighbors

Extendedfamily

Friends of family

Attitudes & ideologies of

culture

Family

Sch

ool

Peers

Religious

institutio

nsHealthcare

services

Playground

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Theoretical Perspectives on Development

• Five general theoretical perspectives

– Ethological and Evolutionary Approaches

• Ethological theory focuses on adaptive or survival behavior within specific contexts – observation yields detailed classifications

• Evolutionary developmental psychology focuses on critical components of human evolutionary change in the brain and cognitive functioning

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The EndThe End