Transcript Chapter 2
Child Psychology: The Modern Science, 3e by Vasta, Haith, and Miller Paul J. Wellman Texas A&M University John Wiley and Sons, Inc. © 1999 PowerPoint Presentation: Chapter 2 Theories of Child Development Developmental Psychologists Developmental psychologists align themselves with – Specific age groups (infants or adolescents) – Specific theoretical approaches • Cognitive-developmental approach • Environmental/learning approach • Ethological approach © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Cognitive-Developmental Approach Piaget was a biologist with strong interests in how children acquire knowledge – Piaget argued that the nature of children’s knowledge changes as they develop – Schemes refer to the cognitive structures that are used to understand the world – Schemes reflect an object in the environment and the child’s reaction to that object – For Piaget, development is the reorganization of knowledge into more complex schemes © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Cognitive Functions: Piaget Two functions guide cognitive development – Organization: New knowledge must be merged with old knowledge – Adaptation: The survival of an organism depends on its ability to fit with the environment Cognitive adaptation is promoted by – Assimilation, which refers to making sense of new information using existing cognitive structures – Accommodation, which occurs when the existing structure must be changed to fit new information © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Stage Theories Developmental change can occur either in a continuous fashion or can occur in discontinuous steps Stage theories suggest that development of a function occurs in steps that are qualitatively different – Implies a progressive orderly series of stages – Implies that persons move through the stages in the same order and at approximately the same time © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Children move through four stages – Sensorimotor period: Birth through age 2 • Infant schemes are simple reflexes and interactions with people and objects – Preoperational period: Age 2 to 6 • Child begins to use symbols but not problem solving – Concrete operations: Age 6 to 11 • Child performs mental operations (conservation) – Formal operations: Age 12 through adulthood • Child can use formal problem solving and higher level abstract thinking © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Environmental/Learning Approaches The environmental/learning approach argues that human behavior is acquired rather than inborn Learning refers to a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from practice or experience – Definition excludes transitory changes such as exhaustion or drug actions – Learning is reflected in observable behavior – Learning is not due to biological maturation © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Behavioral Analysis B.F. Skinner focused on two distinct forms of learning: – Respondent: Environmental stimuli elicit reflexive responses (salivation in response to a steak) – Operant: Refers to the impact of voluntary behaviors on the environment • Operant behaviors are controlled by their effects • Child places a quarter in a candy machine and the machine delivers 30 candy bars rather than one; the child is more likely to place a quarter in that machine on the next occasion © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Behavioral Analysis The goal of behavior analysis is to explain how a child’s experiences interact with biological processes to produce development – Behavior analysis relies heavily on learning theory to explain development – Behavior analysis does not invoke unseen cognitive processes to explain development © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Forms of Learning Habituation refers to the decline of a reflex response after repeated elicitation Classical conditioning refers to a form of learning in which a neutral stimulus is paired with a reflexive stimulus; after several pairings, the neutral stimulus now elicits a response Operant learning focuses attention on the positive and negative effects of behaviors © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Bandura’s Theory of Observational Learning (Figure adapted with permission from Albert Bandura, Social Learning Theory, © 1977, p. 23. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey). © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Reciprocal Determinism (Figure adapted with permission from “Self System in Reciprocal Determinism” by Albert Bandura, 1978, American Psychologist, 33, p. 345. Copyright © 1978 by the American Psychological Association) © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Ethology The focus of ethology is on the role of evolutionary processes in development Ethology suggests two determinants of behavior: – Immediate environmental and internal states – Evolutionary determinants refer to the idea that behaviors are functional and that certain behaviors may have conferred evolutionary advantages to an animal, allowing it to survive and to reproduce © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Innate Mechanisms Ethologists argue that innate behaviors – Are universal to all members of the species – Require no learning or experience – Are stereotyped (similar form) – Are minimally affected by the environment “Sensitive periods” are periods during which learning is biologically programmed to occur easily – Imprinting refers to the emotional bonds formed by young members of a species with their mothers (Lorenz’s ducklings) © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Development in Context (Figure reprinted with permission from U. Bronfenbrenner, from C. Kopp/Krakow, Child Development in the Social Context, (figure 12.1), © 1982 by Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.) © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. Copyright Copyright 1999 by John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner.