Early mid term.docx

What is a theory? It is an attempt to discover order, to show that certain events stand in lawful relations to other events." Skinner, 1953, p.35 A theory connects concepts and builds on observations to explain and predict behavior. Principles of theory: it must be logical, testable, evidence-bas...

What is a theory? It is an attempt to discover order, to show that certain events stand in lawful relations to other events." Skinner, 1953, p.35 A theory connects concepts and builds on observations to explain and predict behavior. Principles of theory: it must be logical, testable, evidence-based, and a set of ideas. **For children's development**: The theory refers to the systematic scientific observations that enable us to develop ideas or concepts about what children can do or learn at different points. - Patterns of behavior are systematically observed: - Antecedent (what comes before) - Behavior (actual action, doing or behavior) - Consequences (what happens as a result) 1. Biological theory Bowlby suggests that **children come into the world biologically pre-programmed to form attachments with others because this will help them to survive** **Secure attachment:** ;( forgive and forget) **Anxious-resistant attachment:**.( forgive but with punishment) **Avoidant attachment**: ).: ( don't forgive and don't accept) 2. Psychodynamic theories Sigmund Freud : - We can understand behavior through the unconscious mind - Early childhood makes the adult Erikson believed that humans\' personalities continue to develop past the age of five Birth to 5y: biological development, cognitive, language, emotional, and social development 3\. Learning theories: \- Behaviourism: Skinner\'s theory - ( He proposes that environment is dominant ) - ( situational factors = environment ) - ( passive learning = environment ) **Respondent behavior** -- things that happen automatically **Operant behavior** -- things that require our conscious control **- Nativism** - Chomsky argues that **children have an inborn faculty for language acquisition** - Language can't be learned just by reinforcement (encouragement) and imitation. - Children learn language by hearing it without teaching. - (We learn because we are born with the ability to learn ) - (individual differences = nativism ) 4\. Cognitive theories: \- Constructivism - Piaget\'s theory - The child ***actively*** interacts with the environment to construct knowledge through creating and modifying mental structures or schemas. - ( active = mentalism/ genetics ) - Development progresses in ***stages***. - ( it's both environment and genetics) \- Social constructivism- Vygotsky - Humans can only be understood within their social context. - ***Social interactions*** drive development and independence. - Central to Vygotsky\'s theory is **the idea that infants develop new social and cognitive skills through interactions with older individuals**. - Zone of proximal development (ZPD) - Scaffolding - ( its both environment and genetics) 5\. Ecological theory - Bronfenbrenner\'s ecological systems theory is **one of the most accepted explanations regarding the influence of social environments on human development**. This theory argues that the environment you grow up in affects every facet of your life. New born baby: - A full-term baby weighs 3.4 kg on average - Length is around 40 to 50 cm. - The head is large in proportion to the body. - Boys tend to be longer and heavier than girls. - Newborns will lose up to 10% of birth weight in first few days. - The majority have gained it back by day 14. - Turns to sounds, responds to voice. - Sleeps up to 18 hours a day. Senses: - Sensitive to pain - Prefer sweet tastes - Hearing well developed: link to noises heard in the uterus or womb - Vision is less well developed  - **Gross motor skill:** those which require **whole-body** movement, and which involve the large muscles of the body to perform everyday functions - **Fine motor skill:** the coordination between **small muscles**, like those of the hands and fingers, with the eyes. No gender differences in size at age 9. By age 11, girls are 1.5 inches taller and 8 pounds heavier. Boys will be taller and heavier by age 14. Day 1: Crying is an indication of language ability. It\'s the first form of language. Stage 1: 0- 2 months: cooing, the production of vowel-like sounds aaaaah, ooooooh (mainly a, o sounds) Stages 2: 3-6 months: infant starts babbling, Stage 3: Beginning of 2nd year One-word utterances, first words emergence Stage 4: 18 months olds -Vocabulary explosion/spurt, learning words at a faster rate (20-50 words) -Overgeneralizations: e.g., baba to refer to all men, mama to refer to all women, dada to refer to all children, kuku to refer to all birds, hau-hau to refer to all animals, etc. Stage 5: Just before the end of 2nd year and beginning of 3rd year **Two-word utterances.** -Limit to here-and-now environment, Stage 6: Third year to the beginning of 4th year **Complete utterances** -Some conversational skills -Wider here-and-now skills -Metalinguistic awareness (e.g., bad words) -More vocabulary items Stage 7: 5-6 years -The child possesses the basic syntactic, semantic, phonological, and phonetic -Possesses more conversational skills so similar to those of adults -Deeper and wider metalinguistic awareness Stage 8: 7-13 years -Development of more complex, adult-like conversational skills -More advanced and complex grammar and knowledge of L1. -Achieves complete mastery and fluency of L1 knowledge in terms of virtually all aspects.