Developmental Psychology Study Guide PDF

Deztiny Musa Jan 2025 Study Guide/Recap Developmental Psych Contexts that influence children's development Culture and ethnicity: ​ In many cultures children are super...

Deztiny Musa Jan 2025 Study Guide/Recap Developmental Psych Contexts that influence children's development Culture and ethnicity: ​ In many cultures children are supervised by siblings; they learn by observing their environments and detecting possible dangers; some might lack sufficient emotional support from parents and caregivers WEIRD Countries: Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic ​ parents are financially responsible ​ children learn/are taught intellectual and social skills in nursery and kindergarten Socioeconomic status (income, education, occupation): 1.​ children born in poverty are more likely to be born prematurely and weigh less 2.​ they are also at a higher risk of developing mental illnesses and health complications 3.​ they could consequently have a lower school attendance and poorer academic performance Key issues in child development Epigenetics - the relationship between genes and environment are bidirectional and influence a child’s development equally Some practices or habits, such as smoking, can turn off genes in later generations that are responsible for regulating obesity Continuous development: changes are gradually built on each other (such as language) Discontinuous development: changes happens in stages in which abilities learned in each stage differ from the previous stage (such as object permanence) Theorists Psychodynamic approaches: 1.​ Freud - 5 psychosexual stages, oral, anal, phallic, latency, geneital Oral birth- 1yo Anal 1-3yo Phallic 3-6yo Latency Genital (puberty 6yo-puberty - onward) children build bowel and gender sexual drive is sexual trust to bladder control, differences are dormant or maturation caregiver parents start being repressed to through oral toilet-train the distinguished develop stimulation child Oidepus and important (breastfeeding) electra complex values etc. mainly explore (son/daughter their see same-sex surrounding parent as rival) through mouth  Deztiny Musa Jan 2025 Freud’s personality theory: Id - unconscious desires and motivations (impulse and instinct) Ego - mediating between the id and superego (reality) Superego - our moral conscience, values developed from family, society etc. (morality) 2.​ Eriksson psychosocial stages: identity crisis in 8 stages that has to be resolved before moving on to the next Trust vs. mistrust 1-18 months stability and consistency from parents, otherwise child becomes mistrusting Autonomy vs. shame 18 months-3 yo children need to explore and do things by themselves otherwise they suffer from poor self-esteem or self-doubt and shame Initiative vs. guilt 3-5 yo children assert themselves through play with peer, if prevented: suffer from sense of guilt Industry vs. inferiority 5-12 yo self esteem is elevated through accomplishments and recognition from peers, if prevented: sense of inferiority Identity vs. role confusion 12-18 yo achieve sense of sexual and occupational identity, failure to achieve: role confusion, isolation, depression Intimacy vs. isolation 18-40 yo marks transition from child to adult and hence not part of exam of child development generativity vs. stagnation 40-65 yo marks transition from child to adult and hence not part of exam of child development integrity vs. despair 65-death marks transition from child to adult and hence not part of exam of child development Learning approaches: John B. Watson (behaviorism- classical conditioning) ​ Little albert association between stimuli leading to conditioned response B.F Skinner (operant learning) ​ Skinner box (animals put in box with levels that either generate in a rewards or electric shock (punishment) Albert Bandura (social learning theory- observational learning) ​ Bobo doll experiment in which children learn from adult by mimicking behavior that is favorable and praised by others Cognitive development approaches:  Deztiny Musa Jan 2025 JEAN PIAGET: Example of discontinuous development 4 stages in children’s cognitive development: 1.​ Sensorimotor birth - 2 yo (consisting of 6 substages) children primarily learn with their senses and motor skills, i.e interactions with their environment 2.​ Preoperational 2-7yo (conservatism, animism, object permanence, egocentrism, class inclusion, assimilation and accommodation, reversibility (e.g can count forward but not backwards) 3.​ Concrete operational 7-11 yo - conservatism, basic logic skills tied to direct experiences , class inclusion 4.​ Formal operational 12-adult - abstract logic and reasoning Object permanence - goal of preoperational stage (to understand objects still exists after they are removed from sight) Animism - the belief that objects are alive (e.g fearing the cupboard in the darkness thinking it’s a monster) Egocentrism - kids have a hard time understanding others perspective and generally think everyone see the world in the same way they do Adaptation: Consists of Assimilation and Accommodation - children are building schemas to categories and understand stimuli and knowledge, in accommodation the knowledge is tested whether to see if it’s sufficient or should be replaced by new representations of the world (such as thinking all four-legged animals are dogs) if assimilation and accommodation is successful = equilibrium (mental balance in which children can explain new experiences using existing schemas/knowledge) Class inclusion - the idea that some items can only be categorised as one thing (e.g a green bear is different from a yellow bear although they’re both bears) Reversibility - the notion that if you transfer objects into a different shape/form you can’t revert them Contextual approaches to cognitive development: Theorists: Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system Vygotsky: Example of continuous development ​ Interactions are always dependent on culture  Deztiny Musa Jan 2025 ​ compared to Piaget's idea that the biological development of the brain happens in stages, Vygotsky suggested the support from educators and parents stands at the frontline of children’s development. Language is a catalyst AND product of cognitive development in children. ¨ ​ Zone of proximal development (ZPD) - children are able to performance task they normally cannot do on their own through guidance and support ​ Scaffolding - parents provide necessary support and guidance for children to learn practical and cognitive skills (the knowledgeable other leads) ​ Cultural context - children cognitive development is deeply seeded in cultural context and the use of cultural specific artifacts and practises Bronfenbrenner: ​ development is influenced by interactions between children and their environment 5 ecosystems shaping development: 1.​ Microsystem - direct/immediate interactions/environment with peers, family, teachers etc. 2.​ Mesosystem - the interactions of the microsystems together (e.g teachers relationship to parents etc.) 3.​ Exosystem - interactions of figures that do not directly involve the child but has an affect on its environment (e.g the parents relationship to their work peers/boss) 4.​ Macrosystem - geo-political contexts, culture and ethnicity, geographical location etc. 5.​ Chronosystem - events which happens before or during a child’s lifetime that influences development Evolutionary approaches in child development: Ethology: The study of animals (inc. humans) behavior and it is influenced by genetics and evolutions ​ Darwin ​ Lorenz ​ Bowlby The development of emotions over the first years birth to 6 months 6 months- 12 months 12- 24 months Primary emotions: basic Fear - around 6 months, Self-awareness - around 18 emotions - happiness, memory improve and they months children start to anger, fear & disgust remember people close to understand themselves as them and also ppl not close independent individuals to them; leading to stranger from the caregivers  Deztiny Musa Jan 2025 and separation anxiety social smile - around Stranger anxiety - around Self-conscious emotions - 6weeks, as a response to 6-9 months, fear in the such as jealousy, familiar faces, priorly the presence of strangers embarrassment and smile is only a reflex empathy laughing - around 4 Separation anxiety - Complex emotions - months, evolutionary and around 6-9 months, shows around age 2 children communicative purpose distress when separated internalize rule and evaluate from caregivers (at its peak themselves based on these 15 months) rules and societal ideologies Distress - expressed Fantasy and reality mix - Frustration and anger - through crying (hunger, fearing threats they are increased emotional pain, tiredness need for vulnerable to at a certain regulation struggles attention) age Recognition of others Empathy development - emotions - mirroring greater ability to express emotions and starts showing sympathy sympathy Increased social engagement - social play and connectedness to others intensifies Social referencing. around age 1, children look for social cues in caregiver’s reaction to certain situations to evaluate how to tackle it Attachment theories: Attachment = affectual bond between two people, expressed in behavior such as proximity seeking or distressed separation from someone Harlow: ​ studies rhesus monkeys separated from their mothers. Found that monkeys preferred the mother who provided comfort rather than food Mary Ainsworth: Strange situation: ​ child between 10-24 months is placed in a room with caregiver and stranger ​ caregiver leaves and the child is observed for its reaction and thereby their attachment to the caregiver Secure attachment (considered most functional and adaptive): -​ infant regards caregiver as a safe base from which to explore, shows signs of distress when caregiver leaves when and calms down once they return -​ about 60-70% low-risk children show secure attachment  Deztiny Musa Jan 2025 Insecure-avoidant attachment: -​ show little reaction when caregivers leaves or reenters -​ about 15-25% of American infants show IAA style -​ correlated with feelings of anxiety and depression in adolescenthood Insecure ambivalent/resistant attachment: -​ codependent of their caregivers and cling to them without wanting to explore -​ extremely upset when caregiver leaves but refuses to interact when they return -​ 10-15% of American infants Disorganized/disoriented attachment: -​ don't have a clear strategy for dealing with caregiver’s absence or return -​ around 10% of American infants -​ percentage is higher in children whose caregivers are drug abusers and might treat the child poorly or frighten them with their behavior