Chapter 2; Theories of Human Development

Match each theoretical approach to its emphasis: (1) behavior genetics (2) ethology (3) sociobiology (a) genetic traits that aid group survival (b) relative effects of heredity and environment on individual differences (c) genetic traits that aid individual survival

(1) b, (2) c, and (3) a

Match each term with its definition. (1) Assimilation (2) Accommodation (3) Equilibration (a) change in scheme is responsive to new information (b) adapting scheme to the real world (c) incorporating new information into an existing scheme

(1) c, (2) a, and (3) b

Write "F" for each concept or term that belongs to Freud's theory, and an "E" for each that belongs to Erikson's theory. (a) psychosocial (b) psychosexual (c) id, ego, superego (d) eight stages from birth to death (e) five stages from birth to adolescence (f) libido is driving force behind development (g) development consists of a series of crisis (h) young child is attracted to the opposite-sex parent (i) defense mechanisms (j) interaction between internal drives and cultural demands

(a) E, (b) F, (c) F, (d) E, (e) F, (f) F, (g) E, (h) F, (i) F, (j) E

Write "A" by each theory that views individuals as active in their own development and "P" by each that view individuals as passive. (a) psychosexual (b) operant conditioning (c) information processing (d) social-learning (e) cognitive-developmental (f) sociocultural (g) classical conditioning (h) psychosocial

(a) P, (b) P, (c) A, (d) A, (e) A, (f) A (g) P, (h) P

Freud's Psychosexual Stages

1. Oral Stage = Birth to 1 year, focus of libido is the mouth, lips, and tongue. Major developmental task includes weaning. Some characteristics of adults fixated at this stage are oral behaviors, such as smoking and overeating; passivity and gullibility. 2. Anal Stage = 1 to 3 years, focus of libido is the anus. Major developmental task involves toilet training. Some characteristics of adults fixated at this stage are orderliness, obstinacy or messiness, and disorganization. 3. Phallic Stage = 3 to 6 years, focus of libido is the genitals. Major developmental tasks include resolving Oedipus/electa complex. Some characteristics of adults fixated at this stage are vanity, recklessness, sexual dysfunction or deviancy. 4. Latency Stage = 6 to 12 years with no focus on libido. Major developmental tasks include developing defense mechanisms; identifying with same sex peers. 5. Genital Stage = 12 years and older, focus of libido is the genitals. Major developmental tasks include achieving mature sexual intimacy. Adults who have successfully integrated earlier stages should emerge with sincere interest in others and mature sexually.

Piaget's Cognitive-Developmental Stages

1. Sensorimotor = Birth to 18 months. The baby understands the world through their senses and their motor actions; they begin to use simple symbols, such as single words and pretend play, near the end of this period. 2. Preoperational = 18 months to 6 years. By age 2, the child can use symbols both to think and to communicate; by the end of this stage they develop the abilities to take others' points of view, classify objects, and use simple logic. 3. Concrete Operational = 6 to 12 years. The child's logic takes a great leap forward with the development of new internal operations, such as conservation and class inclusion, but is still tied to the known world; by the end of this period, they can reason with simple "what if" questions. 4. Formal Operational = 12 years and older. The child begins to manipulate ideas as well as objects; they think hypothetically and, by adulthood, can easily manage a variety of "what if" questions; they greatly improve their ability to organize ideas and objects mentally.

Erikson's Psychosocial Stages

1. Trust vs. Mistrust = Birth to 1 year. Hope; trust in primary caregiver and in one's own ability to make things happen (secure attachment to caregiver is key). 2. Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt = 1 to 3 years. Will; new physical skills lead to demand for more choices, most often seen as saying "no" to caregivers; child learns self-care skills such as toileting. 3. Initiative vs. Guilt = 3 to 6 years. Purpose; ability to organize activities around some goal; more assertiveness and aggressiveness (Oedipus conflict with parent of same sex may lead to guilt). 4. Industry vs. Inferiority = 6 to 12 years. Competence; cultural skills and norms, including school skills and tool use (failure to master these leads to sense of inferiority). 5. Identity vs. Role Confusion = 12 to 18 years. Fidelity; adaptation of sense of self to pubertal changes, consideration of future choices, achievement of a more mature sexual identity, and search for new values. 6. Intimacy vs. Isolation = 18 to 30 years. Love; persons develop intimate relationships beyond adolescent love; many become parents. 7. Generativity vs. Stagnation = 30 years to late adulthood. Care; people rear children, focus on occupational achievement or creativity, and train the next generation; turn outward from the self towards others. 8. Integrity vs. Despair = Late adulthood. Wisdom; person conducts a life review, integrates earlier stages and comes to terms with basic identity; develops self-acceptance.

Which of the following theorists proposed a theory of observational learning? (a) B.F. Skinner (b) Albert Bandura (c) Erik Erikson (d) Ivan Pavlov

Albert Bandura

In what ways does social-cognitive theory differ from other learning theories?

Bandura's social-cognitive theory place more emphasis on mental elements than other learning theories do and assumes a more active role for the individual.

How do behavior geneticists explain individual differences?

Behavior geneticists study the influence of heredity on individual differences and the ways in which individuals' genes influence their environment.

Erikson's dilemma of trust versus mistrust is associated with which of these age ranges? (a) 2 to 3 years (b) Birth to 1 year (c) 30 to 60 years (d) 18 to 30 years

Birth to 1 year

Bioecological Theory

Bonfenbrenner's theory that explains development in terms of relationships between individuals and their environments, or interconnected contexts

Which theorist developed a model of the interactive contexts in which children develop? (a) Bronfenbrenner (b) Lorenz (c) Vygotsky (d) Bandura

Bronfenbrenner

What is the main idea of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory?

Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory has helped development psychologists categorize environmental factors and think about the ways in which they influence individuals.

How did Watson condition Little Albert to fear white, furry objects?

Classical conditioning - learning through association of stimuli - helps explain the acquisition of emotional responses. Watson used these principles to condition a fear of white rats in an infant called "Little Albert," who generalized his fear to other white, furry objects.

What is eclecticism?

Developmentalists who take an eclectic approach use theories derived from all the major families, as well as those of many disciplines, to explain and study human development.

Psychoanalytic theories share the belief that _____ and _____ shape development.

Emotions and internal drives

What is the conflict associated with each of Erikson's psychosocial stages?

Erikson proposed that personality develops in eight psychosocial stages over the course of the lifespan; trust versus mistrust; autonomy versus shame/doubt; initiative versus guilt; industry versus inferiority; identity versus role confusion; intimacy versus isolation; generativity versus stagnation; and integrity versus despair.

Psychosocial Stages

Erikson's eight stages, or crises, of personality development in which inner instincts interact with outer cultural and social demands to shape personality

What kinds of behaviors are of interest to ethologists and sociobiologists?

Ethologists study genetically determined traits and behaviors that help animals adapt to their environments. Sociobiologists emphasize the genetic basis of behavior that promote the development and maintenance of social organizations in both animals and humans.

Psychoanalytic Theories

FREUD'S PSYCHOSEXUAL THEORY • Main Idea: Personality develops in five stages from birth to adolescence; in each stage, the need for physical pleasure is focused on a different part of the body. • Strengths: Emphasizes importance of experience in infancy and early childhood; provides psychological explanations for mental illness. • Weaknesses: Sexual feelings are not as important in personality development as Freud claimed. ERIKSON'S PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY • Main Idea: Personality develops through eight life crises across the entire lifespan; a person finishes each crisis with either a good or a poor resolution. • Strengths: Helps explain the role of culture in personality development; important in lifespan psychology; useful description of major themes of personality development at different ages. • Weaknesses: Describing each period in terms of a single crisis is probably an oversimplification.

What are the main ideas of Freud's psychosexual theory?

Freud emphasizes that behavior is governed by both conscious and unconscious motives and that personality develops in steps: The id is present at birth; the ego and superego develop in childhood. Freud proposed psychosexual stages; the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages.

Psychosexual Stages

Freud's five stages of personality development through which children move in a fixed sequence determined by maturation; the libido is centered in a different body part in each stage

Superego

Freud's term for the part of personality that is the moral judge

Neo-Piagetians' explanations of cognitive development employ concepts from Piaget's theory of cognitive development and... (a) Bandura's learning theory (b) Vygotsky's sociocultural theory (c) Erikson's theory of psychosocial development (d) Information-processing theory

Information-processing theory

How does information-processing theory explain the finding of developmental psychologists such as Piaget and Vygotsky?

Information-processing theory uses the computer as a model to explain intellectual processes such as memory and problem-solving. It suggests that there are both age differences and individual differences in the efficiency with which humans use their information-processing systems.

What is the main advantage of an eclectic approach to explaining age-related changes?

It provides a comprehensive explanation of development.

How do the learning theories explain development?

Learning theories provide useful explanations of how behaviors are acquired but fall short of a truly comprehensive picture of human development.

How does operant conditioning occur?

Operant conditioning involves learning to repeat or stop behaviors because of their consequences. However, consequences often affect behavior in complex ways in the real world.

Which of the following statements is true regarding operant conditioning theory? (a) Our own choices and behaviors are the primary contributors to our development; biology plays only a small role. (b) Our environment provides us with consequences for our actions; and those consequences determine our future behavior. (c) Developmental stages unfold according to a biological sequence. (d) Development results primarily from social interactions.

Our environment provides us with consequences for our actions; and those consequences determine our future behavior.

Learning Theories

PAVLOV'S CLASSICAL CONDITIONING THEORY • Main Idea: Learning happens when neutral stimuli become so strongly associated with natural stimuli that they elicit the same response. • Strengths: Useful in explaining how emotional responses such as phobias are learned. • Weaknesses: Explanation of behavior change is too limited to serve as comprehensive theory of human development. SKINNER'S OPERANT CONDITIONING THEORY • Main Idea: Development involves behavior changes that are shaped by reinforcement and punishment. • Strengths: Basis of many useful strategies for managing and changing human behavior. • Weaknesses: Humans are not as passive as Skinner claimed; the theory ignores heredity, cognitive, emotional, and social factors in development. BANDURA'S SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY • Main Idea: People learn from models; what they learn from a model depends on how they interpret the situation cognitively and emotionally. • Strengths: Helps explain how models influence behavior; explains more about development than other learning theories do because of addition of cognitive and emotional factors. • Weaknesses: Does not provide an overall picture of development.

Cognitive Theories

PIAGET'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT • Main Idea: Reasoning develops in four universal stages from birth through adolescence; in each stage, the child builds a different kind of scheme. • Strengths: Helps explain how children of different ages think about and act on the world. • Weaknesses: Stage concept may cause adults to underestimate children's reasoning abilities; there may be additional stages in adulthood. INFORMATION-PROCESSING THEORY • Main Idea: The computer is used as a model for human cognitive functioning; encoding, storage, and retrieval processes change with age, causing changes in memory function; these changes happen because of both brain maturation and practice. • Strengths: Helps explain how much information people of different ages can manage at one time and how they process it; provides a useful framework for studying individual differences in people of the same age. • Weaknesses: Human information processing is much more complex than that of a computer; the theory doesn't provide an overall picture of development. VYGOTSKY'S SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY • Main Idea: Emphasizes linguistic and social factors in cognitive development. • Strengths: Incorporates group learning processes into explanations of individual cognitive development. • Weaknesses: Insufficient evidence to support most ideas.

How does cognitive development progress, according to Piaget?

Piaget focused on the development of logical thinking. He discovered that such thinking develops across four childhood and adolescent stages; the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages. He proposed that movement from one stage to another is the result of changes in mental frameworks called schemes.

How Theories Answer Three Questions About Development. Active or Passive? Nature or Nurture? Stability or Change?

Psychoanalytic Theories: - Psychosexual Theories = Passive / Nature / Change (stages) - Psychosocial Theories = Passive / Both / Change Learning Theories: - Classical Conditioning = Passive / Nurture / Stability (no stages) - Operant Conditioning = Passive / Nurture / Stability - Social-Learning Theory = Active / Nurture / Stability Cognitive Theories: - Cognitive-Developmental Theory = Active / Both / Change - Sociocultural Theory = Active / Both / Change - Information-Processing Theory = Active / Both / Both

What are the strengths and weaknesses of psychoanalytic theory?

Psychoanalytical concepts, such as the unconscious and identity, have contributed to psychologists' understanding of development. However, those theories propose many ideas that are difficult to test.

What are some of the important contributions and criticisms of the cognitive theories?

Research has confirmed the sequence of skill development Piaget proposed but suggests that young children are more capable of logical thinking than he believed. Information-processing theory has been important in explaining Piaget's findings and memory process.

What assumption do the three families of theories make about development?

Theories vary in how they answer three basic questions about development: Are individuals active or passive in their own development? How do nature and nurture interact to produce development? Does development happen continuously or in stages?

Which of the following is true of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory? (a) It has less empirical support that Freud's theory of psychosexual development. (b) It has more empirical support than information-processing theory. (c) There is insufficient evidence to either support or contradict most of the theory. (d) It has more empirical support than Piaget's theory.

There is insufficient evidence to either support or contradict most of the theory.

On what criteria do developmentalists compare the usefulness of theories?

Useful theories allow psychologists to devise hypotheses to test their validity, are heuristically valuable, provide practical solutions to problems, and explain the facts of development.

"Social interactions are the most important contributors to a child's cognitive development." Which of the following theorists would most likely support this statement? (a) Piaget (b) Bronfenbrenner (c) Vygotsky (d) Freud

Vygotsky

How did Vygotsky use the concepts of scaffolding and the zone of proximal development to explain cognitive development?

Vygotsky's sociocultural theory has become important to developmentalists' attempts to explain how culture affects development.

Sociocultural Theory

Vygotsky's view that complex forms of thinking have their origins in social interactions rather than an individual's private explorations

Which of the following is true of research examining children's memories? (a) Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development is applicable only to the memory of infants. (b) Piaget overestimated the memory abilities of younger children. (c) Younger children's short-term memories are more limited in capacity than those of older children. (d) Older children's sensory memories are more limited in capacity than those of younger children.

Younger children's short-term memories are more limited in capacity than those of older children.

Ethology

a perspective on development that emphasizes genetically determined survival behaviors presumed to have evolved through natural selection

Information-Processing Theory

a theoretical perspective that uses the computer as a model to explain how the mind manages information

Ego

according to Freud, the thinking element of personality

According to Erikson, which factor is generally considered to be an essential aspect of a school-age child's psychosocial development? (a) learning to control bodily sensations or developing scheme if unsuccessful (b) being treated lovingly and predictably by caregivers and learning to trust (c) acquiring skills that are deemed important by the child's culture (d) becoming purposeful, goal oriented, and assertive, which leads to conflicts with parents

acquiring skills that are deemed important by the child's culture

Neo-Piagetian Theory

an approach that uses information-processing principles to explain the developmental stages identified by Piaget

Reinforcement

anything that follows a behavior and causes it to be repeated

Punishment

anything that follows a behavior and causes it to stop

When first presented with a drinking cup, 8-month-old Lucy attempted to suck the liquid out. Which of Piaget's concepts explains Lucy's behavior? (a) assimilation (b) accommodation (c) cognitive (d) equilibration

assimilation

According to Bandura, what four factors explain why learning from a model is not an automatic process?

attention, memory, physical ability to imitate the behavior, and motivation to perform the behavior

Accommodation

changing a scheme as a result of some new information

Both Freud's psychosexual theory and Skinner's operant conditioning theory... (a) claim that we are passive recipients of environmental influences. (b) are cognitive theories. (c) Assert that nurture has a larger impact on development than nurture does. (d) Suggest that we are active in shaping our own development.

claim that we are passive recipients of environmental influences.

Pavlov's experiments addressed (classical/operant) conditioning; Skinner's dealt with (classical/operant) conditioning.

classical; operant

Alicia was bitten by a dog at age four. Even though she is now an adult, Alicia still starts to sweat and her heart begins to race every time she sees a dog. According to classical conditioning, Alicia's physical response to dogs is a (n)... (a) conditioned response (b) contextual response (c) assimilative response (d) psychosocial response

conditioned response

Based on his research, Piaget concluded that the capacity for logical thinking... (a) is an inborn characteristic of humans that is fully developed by age six. (b) exists only in adults. (c) develops in four stages. (d) varies widely from one individual to another.

develops in four stages.

The idea that certain human behaviors have developed and persisted in order to ensure survival of the species is drawn from which of the following? (a) ethology (b) classical conditioning (c) nativism (d) behaviorism

ethology

Information-processing theorists (expand on/contradict) Piaget's ideas about cognitive development.

expand on

During which of Piaget's stages does the child learn to reason logically about hypothetical situations? (a) sensorimotor (b) preoperational (c) concrete operational (d) formal operational

formal operational

A theory that fails to generate testable hypotheses or practical applications but stimulates debate and research has _____ value.

heuristic value

Seven-year-old Bethany saw some money on the kitchen table. She really wanted to take it so she could buy some candy, but her conscious kept her from doing so. According to Freud, which component parts of Bethany's personality interacted to tempt her to take the money? (a) ego and superego (b) id and ego (c) superego and id (d) none of the above

id and ego

Id

in Freud's theory, the part of the personality that comprises a person's basic sexual and aggressive impulses; it contains the libido and motivates a person to seek pleasure and avoid pain

Scheme

in Piaget's theory, an internal cognitive structure that provides an individual with a procedure to use in a specific circumstance

Observational Learning (or Modeling)

learning that results from seeing a model reinforced or punished for a behavior

Classical Conditioning

learning that results from the association of stimuli

Operant Conditioning

learning to repeat or stop behaviors because of their consequences

According to Bronfenbrenner, the values of the culture in which the child is growing up are part of the _____, cultural institutions are part of the _____, and a child's parents are part of the _____.

macrosystem, exosystem, and microsystem

Which of the following reinforcement schedules produces behaviors which are difficult to extinguish? (a) interval (b) fixed (c) partial (d) continuous

partial

Erikson is to psychosocial as Freud is to _____. (a) psychological (b) psychosexual (c) psychoanalytic (d) psychomotor

psychosexual

Four-year-old Mark eagerly bit into a lemon wedge. In response to the lemon's sour taste, he said, "Yuck!" Mark never bit into another lemon wedge. Skinner would say that the lemon's taste functioned as a _____ for Mark's lemon-eating behavior. (a) reflex (b) reinforcement (c) context (d) punishment

punishment

A consequence that causes a behavior to be repeated is a _____; one that stops a behavior is a _____.

reinforcement; punishment

According to the principles of Piaget's theory of cognitive development, _____ shape our responses to new information. (a) schemes (b) reinforcement (c) emotions (d) genes

schemes

Piaget defined _____ as cognitive structures that provide a procedure to follow in a specific situation.

schemes

According to Bandura, which of the following terms best describes the expectancies we acquire about what we can and cannot do? (a) self-evidence (b) self monitoring (c) self-efficacy (d) self evaluation

self-efficacy

Eight-year-old Rodney does not believe he can learn to hit a baseball. According to Bandura, Rodney has low _____ with regards to his behavior.

self-efficacy

Information is actively processed in the _____ component of the information-processing system. (a) sensory memory (b) short-term memory (c) episodic memory (d) semantic memory

short-term memory

Extinction

the gradual elimination of a behavior through repeated non-reinforcement

Which of the following best defines Erikson's concept of ego identity? (a) the need to believe that one's life has been worthwhile (b) the need to resolve a midlife crisis (c) a sense of needing to make up for one's shortcomings (d) a sense of wanting to give back to society and future generations

the need to believe that one's life has been worthwhile

Equilibration

the process of balancing assimilation and accommodation to create schemes that fit the environment

Assimilation

the process of using a scheme to make sense of an event or experience

Which of the following features of Piaget's theory of cognitive development has been strongly supported by research? (a) the ages at which children transition from one stage to the next (b) the sequence of cognitive development (c) the contribution of unconscious processes to cognitive development (d) the role of modeling in cognitive development

the sequence of cognitive development

Sociobiology

the study of society using the methods and concepts of biology; when used by developmentalists, an approach that emphasizes genes that aid group survival

Behavior Genetics

the study of the role of heredity in individual differences

Eclecticism

the use of multiple theoretical perspectives to explain and study human development

Behaviorism

the view that defines development in terms of behavior changes caused by environmental influences

Learning Theories

theories asserting that development results from an accumulation of experiences

Psychoanalytic Theories

theories proposing that development change happens because of the influence of internal drives and emotions on behavior

Cognitive Theories

theories that emphasize mental processes in development, such as logic and memory

Which of the following is NOT a goal of developmental theories? (a) to explain age-related changes (b) to predict age-related changes (c) to control age-related changes (d) to describe age-related changes

to control age-related changes

According Vygotsky, a child's _____ includes tasks that the child cannot do alone but can accomplish with the help of an adult or older child.

zone of proximal development