Summary developmental psychology
Ch1: themes and context
Developmental psychology= seeks to understand and explain change in
individuals’ cognitive, social and other capacities, first by describing changes in
the child’s observed behaviour and second by uncovering the processes that
underlie these changes.
Origins of behaviour:
1. Nativism= the idea that development is primarily determined by inherited
factors (genetics, nature)
2. Empiricism= the idea that development is primarily determined by
environmental influences (nurture)
Describing developmental change:
1. Continuous development= a pattern of development in which abilities
change in a gradual and smooth way. -> each new event builds on earlier
experiences
2. Discontinuous development= changes occur suddenly, resulting in
qualitatively different stages of development.
3. Development as overlapping waves (Siegler’s model)
A critical period is a period of development at which specific experiences are
vital for development to occur in a typical way.
A sensitive period is a period of development at which particular experiences
are important for typical development. If those experiences do not occur during
that period, typical development may still occur.
Domain of development:
1. Domain-general development= the idea that development can have an
impact on a wide range of abilities
2. Domain-specific development= the idea that the development of
various abilities occurs independently (separately) and has little impact on
skills in other domains.
Level of explanation= the way in which we choose to describe psychological
abilities (and the developments of those abilities). Levels of explanation can
include biological, behavioural, social and emotional.
Perspectives on development
Individual characteristics and contextual influence
Cultural context: examining development across cultures provides information
about variation in the range of human potential and expression that may emerge
in different circumstances of growth. Even basic abilities differ across cultures.
Biological perspective
Ecological perspective= a perspective that stresses the importance of
understanding not only the relationships between organisms and various
environmental systems but also the relations among such systems themselves.
, 1. Microsystem is the setting in which the child lives and interacts with
people and institutions closest to her.
2. Mesosystem comprises the interrelations among the components of the
microsystem.
3. Exo system is composed of settings that impinge on a child’s
development but with the child has largely indirect contact.
4. Macro system represents the ideological and institutional patterns of a
particular culture or subculture
These four systems change over time: chronosystem
Lifespan perspective= a view of development as a process that continues
throughout the life cycle, from infancy through adulthood and old age.
Age cohort= people born within the same generation
Ch2: themes and context
Role of theories;
1. Help organize and integrate existing information into coherent, interesting
and plausible accounts of how children develop.
2. Generate testable hypotheses or predictions about children’s behaviour.
Behaviourism= argued that development was characterized by continuous and
gradual changes in behaviour. Changes are driven by experience, these changes
happen gradually and continuously.
Behaviourism= a school of psychology prominent in the early twentieth
century, which emphasized the role of learning in human behaviour and
attempted to describe behaviour in such terms.
Maturational approach= an early approach to explaining development in
terms of maturational timetables, predetermined by genetic inheritance.
Psychodynamic theory= Freudian theory, development occurs in discrete
stages and is largely determined by biologically based drives shaped by
encounters with the environment and through the interaction of the personality’s
three components: the id, ego and superego.
Id= in Freudian theory, the person’s instinctual drives; the first
component of the personality to evolve, the id operates on the basis
of the pleasure principle. Becomes more controlled by ego.
Ego= the rational, controlling component of the personality, which
tries to satisfy needs through appropriate, socially acceptable
behaviours.
Superego= the personality component that is the repository of the
child’s internalization of parental or societal values, morals and
roles.
Psychosocial theory= Erikson’s theory of development, which sees children
developing through a series of stages largely through accomplishing tasks that
involve them in interaction with their social environment.
, Socioemotional development due to attachment in early life (especially to
the mother)
Ethological theory= a theory which holds that behaviour must be viewed and
understood as occurring in a particular context and as having adaptive or survival
value.
It is important to take into account environment and needs at different
stages of development.
Theories of cognitive development
Social learning theory= a learning theory that stresses the importance of
observation and imitation in the acquisition of new behaviours, with learning
mediated by cognitive processes.
Observational learning through observing others’ behaviours.
Bandura’s model= modelled behaviour-> attention -> retention -> reproduction -
> motivation -> matching behaviour
Piagetian theory= a theory of cognitive development that sees the child as
actively seeking new information
Children of same ages tend to get the same answers wrong
Errors of children of a particular age differ in systematic ways from those
of other age.
How do kids come to their answer? Instead of whether the answer is right.
All kids go through 3 stages of development
Sociocultural theory = proposed by Lev Vygotsky, sees development as
emerging from children’s interactions with more skilled people, and the
institutions and tools provided by their culture.
Social interaction is a critical force in development.
Evolutionary psychology= an approach which holds that critical components
of psychological functioning reflect evolutionary changes and are critical to
survival of species.
Have examined how inheritance can play a role on cognitive development
( instead of describing inherited behaviours like ethology does)
Information processing approaches= focus on the flow of information
through the child’s cognitive system and particularly on the specific operations
the child performs between input and output phases.
Neo-Piagetian theories= theories of cognitive development that reinterpret
Piaget’s concepts from an information-processing perspective
Executive control structure= according to Case, a mental blueprint or plan for
solving a class of problems.
Connectionist models= are a class of computational model used to make
explicit theoretical accounts of human cognition and development.
Ch1: themes and context
Developmental psychology= seeks to understand and explain change in
individuals’ cognitive, social and other capacities, first by describing changes in
the child’s observed behaviour and second by uncovering the processes that
underlie these changes.
Origins of behaviour:
1. Nativism= the idea that development is primarily determined by inherited
factors (genetics, nature)
2. Empiricism= the idea that development is primarily determined by
environmental influences (nurture)
Describing developmental change:
1. Continuous development= a pattern of development in which abilities
change in a gradual and smooth way. -> each new event builds on earlier
experiences
2. Discontinuous development= changes occur suddenly, resulting in
qualitatively different stages of development.
3. Development as overlapping waves (Siegler’s model)
A critical period is a period of development at which specific experiences are
vital for development to occur in a typical way.
A sensitive period is a period of development at which particular experiences
are important for typical development. If those experiences do not occur during
that period, typical development may still occur.
Domain of development:
1. Domain-general development= the idea that development can have an
impact on a wide range of abilities
2. Domain-specific development= the idea that the development of
various abilities occurs independently (separately) and has little impact on
skills in other domains.
Level of explanation= the way in which we choose to describe psychological
abilities (and the developments of those abilities). Levels of explanation can
include biological, behavioural, social and emotional.
Perspectives on development
Individual characteristics and contextual influence
Cultural context: examining development across cultures provides information
about variation in the range of human potential and expression that may emerge
in different circumstances of growth. Even basic abilities differ across cultures.
Biological perspective
Ecological perspective= a perspective that stresses the importance of
understanding not only the relationships between organisms and various
environmental systems but also the relations among such systems themselves.
, 1. Microsystem is the setting in which the child lives and interacts with
people and institutions closest to her.
2. Mesosystem comprises the interrelations among the components of the
microsystem.
3. Exo system is composed of settings that impinge on a child’s
development but with the child has largely indirect contact.
4. Macro system represents the ideological and institutional patterns of a
particular culture or subculture
These four systems change over time: chronosystem
Lifespan perspective= a view of development as a process that continues
throughout the life cycle, from infancy through adulthood and old age.
Age cohort= people born within the same generation
Ch2: themes and context
Role of theories;
1. Help organize and integrate existing information into coherent, interesting
and plausible accounts of how children develop.
2. Generate testable hypotheses or predictions about children’s behaviour.
Behaviourism= argued that development was characterized by continuous and
gradual changes in behaviour. Changes are driven by experience, these changes
happen gradually and continuously.
Behaviourism= a school of psychology prominent in the early twentieth
century, which emphasized the role of learning in human behaviour and
attempted to describe behaviour in such terms.
Maturational approach= an early approach to explaining development in
terms of maturational timetables, predetermined by genetic inheritance.
Psychodynamic theory= Freudian theory, development occurs in discrete
stages and is largely determined by biologically based drives shaped by
encounters with the environment and through the interaction of the personality’s
three components: the id, ego and superego.
Id= in Freudian theory, the person’s instinctual drives; the first
component of the personality to evolve, the id operates on the basis
of the pleasure principle. Becomes more controlled by ego.
Ego= the rational, controlling component of the personality, which
tries to satisfy needs through appropriate, socially acceptable
behaviours.
Superego= the personality component that is the repository of the
child’s internalization of parental or societal values, morals and
roles.
Psychosocial theory= Erikson’s theory of development, which sees children
developing through a series of stages largely through accomplishing tasks that
involve them in interaction with their social environment.
, Socioemotional development due to attachment in early life (especially to
the mother)
Ethological theory= a theory which holds that behaviour must be viewed and
understood as occurring in a particular context and as having adaptive or survival
value.
It is important to take into account environment and needs at different
stages of development.
Theories of cognitive development
Social learning theory= a learning theory that stresses the importance of
observation and imitation in the acquisition of new behaviours, with learning
mediated by cognitive processes.
Observational learning through observing others’ behaviours.
Bandura’s model= modelled behaviour-> attention -> retention -> reproduction -
> motivation -> matching behaviour
Piagetian theory= a theory of cognitive development that sees the child as
actively seeking new information
Children of same ages tend to get the same answers wrong
Errors of children of a particular age differ in systematic ways from those
of other age.
How do kids come to their answer? Instead of whether the answer is right.
All kids go through 3 stages of development
Sociocultural theory = proposed by Lev Vygotsky, sees development as
emerging from children’s interactions with more skilled people, and the
institutions and tools provided by their culture.
Social interaction is a critical force in development.
Evolutionary psychology= an approach which holds that critical components
of psychological functioning reflect evolutionary changes and are critical to
survival of species.
Have examined how inheritance can play a role on cognitive development
( instead of describing inherited behaviours like ethology does)
Information processing approaches= focus on the flow of information
through the child’s cognitive system and particularly on the specific operations
the child performs between input and output phases.
Neo-Piagetian theories= theories of cognitive development that reinterpret
Piaget’s concepts from an information-processing perspective
Executive control structure= according to Case, a mental blueprint or plan for
solving a class of problems.
Connectionist models= are a class of computational model used to make
explicit theoretical accounts of human cognition and development.
