Developmental Psychology - Piaget, Kohlberg, Erikson and Bandura
scenario used to show example of stages
A woman is near death from a kind of cancer, the drug that might save her is $4000, Her husband tried every legal means to gather enough money but only could get $2000. Should Heinz break into the lab to steal the drug for his wife, why or why not?
describe the formal operational stage
- (11+) - develop ability for logical and abstract thinking
describe the pre-operational stage
- (2-7) - child is learning to use language, don't fully understand concrete logic or viewpoints. - children are egocentric: inability to see things from another person's point of view e.g. when asked to pick out a present for their father, the child is more likely to choose a teddy bear rather than a tie
describe the concrete operational stage
- (7-11) - begin to understand mental operations and think logically about concrete events (things they experience through their senses) - Have difficulty understanding abstract/hypothetical concepts - achieve conservation skills and ability to classify and seriate
Describe Bandura's Bobo Doll experiment
- A female student repeatedly knocked over, bashed and shouted aggressive words to the Bobo doll. - This was taped and shown to groups of young children - The children were later allowed to play with the doll and those that were shown the tape behaved the same way as the student. - This demonstrated that children changed their behaviour without reinforcement or punishment
Name the crisis for and describe the Adolescence stage
- Adolescence (12-18) - Identity vs Role Confusion - Must integrate all the resolutions to earlier crises - Achieve a sense of identity incorporating all the elements of self - Failure to resolve the identity conflict: role confusion, indecision and avoidance of commitment "Who am I?"
Name the crisis for and describe the Early Adulthood stage
- Early Adulthood (18-40) - Intimacy vs Isolation - importance of intimacy with another person - Failure to develop a sense of identity: young adult is incapable of forming an intimate relationship .: sinks into isolation "Can I love and be loved?"
Name the crisis for and describe the Early Childhood stage
- Early childhood (3-6) - Initiative vs Guilt - Children's social and motor skills become highly developed - trying to balance the wish to achieve more and take more responsibility - while accepting parental control and discipline without guilt "Is it okay for me to do things?"
Who is Erikson and what was is his theory
- Erik Erikson (1902-1994) - described the development of identity not just in childhood but across the entire life span - considered the development of identity to be a series of continual challenges that have to be met by the individual to move successfully to the next phase of life. - children work out the similarities and differences between themselves and others as they grow and develop - each child develops a sense of identity - believed that the search for ones identity is a life-long process, with the biggest hurdle occurring during adolescence - where the major question to be answered is "Who am I?"
Name the crisis and describe the Infancy stage
- Infancy (0-1) - Trust vs Mistrust - Infants are dependent on other (food, warmth, love) and must trust others to provide these - If needs are met consistently and responsively: develop a secure attachment and learn to trust others - a failure to bond leads to mistrust of the world around them " Can I trust the world?"
Who was Piaget and what was his theory?
- Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980) - believed we build an understanding of our world and develop our thinking skills through active interaction with our environment - created theory of cognitive development that described 4 basic stages of children maturing mentally including the concept of schemas.
Name the crisis for and describe the Late Adulthood stage
- Late Adulthood (65-death) - Integrity vs Despair - time to reflect on one's contribution viewing it as positive and satisfactory OR disappointing and unsatisfactory - If life is regarded as fulfilled: views death with integrity - If not; death is despaired and feared "Was my life a good one?"
Who was Kohlberg and what was his theory
- Lawrence Kohlberg (1981) - believed there is a universal sequence to the development of morality and that the stages begin at early childhood (Kohlberg, 1981) - developed 6 stages of moral development that were based on children's responses to various moral dilemmas
name 2 theorists who criticised Piaget's work
- Martin Hughes (Donaldson, 1978) - Michael Siegal (1991)
Name the crisis for and describe Middle Adulthood stage
- Middle Adulthood (40-65) - Generatively vs Stagnation - the main focus is on work and the maintenance of family relationships (care) - Success in both these areas: sense of accomplishment and leaving a legacy for the future - Failure: self-centredness and stagnation "What can I contribute to the world?"
Name the crisis for and describe the Middle Childhood stage
- Middle childhood (6-12) - Industry vs Inferiority - Competence is achieved through learning at school - Relationships with friends and peers increase - Those who are rewarded for their industry and achieve success at school: develop a sense of competence and mastery - Failure to achieve competence: leads to feeling of inferiority "How can I be good?"
Name the crisis for and describe the Toddler stage
- Toddler (1-3) - Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt - Toddlers learn to walk, talk, use toilets and feed themselves i.e. become autonomous and less dependent on others - success leads to self-confidence and self-control: mistakes are easily fixed - overprotection/disapproval from parents leads to shame and doubt on the toddlers ability to be independent "Can I do things myself or must I rely on others?"
How did Siegal (1991) criticise Piaget
- argued that younger children's apparent inability to conserve can be explained by adults breaking the conversational rules that children hold - believed problems arise when experimenters ask questions where the answer is obvious or repeat questions when an answer has already been given e.g. in the study of conservation of mass using the plasticine balls. The question whether they contain the same amount of material is asked again and the child assumes his/her first answer must be incorrect and change their answer, simply to please the examiner.
How did Gilligan (1982) criticise Kohlberg
- as research showed that women typically reached Kohlberg's Stage 3, where as men reached Stage 4 - Gilligan considered that this was due to the different socialisation of girls and boys resulting in different values, rather than males being more morally advanced then females - males are socialised to be independent and achievement orientated .: seeing moral dilemmas as a conflict of interest between individuals - which rules/laws are designed to resolve (Stage 4) - females are socialised to be socially responsible and nurturing .: leading to them developing a morality of care (Stage 3) - Gilligan argued that females moral reasoning is not inferior, simply different.
Name one criticism and one importance of Gilligan's work
- based her own theory on a small number of interviews that were carried out only with women - she has encouraged later researchers to examine morality in both men and women in terms of both justice and care
Why did Donaldson (1978) claim that Hughes's policeman task criticised Piaget
- children aged between 3.5 - 5 were asked to carry out tasks involving hiding a boy "so that policeman can't see him" - 90% of children could correctly hide the boy from the policemen - shows that children can take another person perspective .: not egocentric - Donaldson argued that children pass Hughe's policemen task and fail Piaget's 3 mountain task because they are familiar with hiding and it makes sense to them
3 points on the importance of Piaget's work
- he may have been wrong on the ages at which milestones were reached yet he was correct in their sequence - his emphasis on children as active beings who construct understanding through their interaction with the world transformed education - his theory also provides a platform for research
criticisms of Erikson's work (3)
- it doesn't say much about the underlying causes of each development crisis - vague about the different experiences and events that mark the difference between success and failure at each stage - lacks any way to determine if a person has "passed" or "failed" a particular stage of development
Describe Seagrim and Lendon (1980): Hermannsburg project
- longitudinal study: aim was to investigate the universality of Piaget's theory i.e. test whether the developmental stages specified in the theory occurred or whether they were subject to external pressures - compared the cognitive performance of children from the Aranda and Loritja, reared in the isolated Central Australia with Aboriginal children reared elsewhere - was predicted that the various Aboriginal groups with varying degrees of experience of contact with white culture, would demonstrate the differences in intellectual development - was concluded that Aboriginal children were as capable as white children in different types of thinking at similar ages and with similar educational experiences
What is Kohlberg's 6 stage's of moral development divided into
- pre-conventional - conventional - post-conventional
How did Shweder criticise Kohlberg
- presented Babaji (a Hindu teacher) with an Indian version of the dilemma of Heinz. - Hindu dharma (moral duty) forbid stealing under any circumstances - Shweder asked the Babaji: "Why doesn't hindu dharma permit stealing? to which he replied: "If he steals it is a sin, so what virtue is there in saving a life?" - The Babaji's reasoning would place him at about Stage 3/4 .: Shweder argues that Kohlberg's system does not allow him to take into account various cultures
Describe Gilligan's pregnancy dilemma study
- she examined a group of 29 American women. - presented them with a real-life moral dilemma: whether or not to continue a pregnancy - this posed a general conflict between personal choice and traditional female values of self-sacrifice and care - Gilligan identified 3 levels of reasoning
Who is Albert Bandura
- social learning theory - interested in how people learn social behaviour - emphasised observational learning - considered that children watch other people and copy their behaviour - children learn complex social behaviours ranging from aggression and altruism to sex roles - Bandura proposed children passively took in information from watching the behaviour of others and then copying it.
what are conservation skills
- the understanding that an object does not change its weight, mass, volume or area simply because it changes shape e.g. Piaget tested this by showing a child two balls of plasticine that were the same size, then he rolled one of the balls out into a sausage shape and asked whether the sausage shape had more plasticine than the ball
what did Kohlberg's dilemmas focus on
- the value of human life and property - meaning of social rules/laws - value of honesty - the importance of upholding contractual agreements with others.
what is abstract thinking
- thinking that does not rely on being able to see or handle concrete materials in order to reason about them - talk about concepts such as honesty/morality and can discuss possible outcomes of actions without having experienced them
4 ways Piaget has been criticised
- underestimated young minds - failed to distinguish between competence and performance - gave insufficient attention to social influences on performance. - children may have failed tasks because of a lack of familiarity with the situation, rather than because they lacked the cognitive skill required
Describe Piaget's Pendulum Problem
- used to test if children have achieved logical thinking level in formal operation stage. - pendulums that varied in weight and the length of string on which the weights were hung were dropped from different heights and pushed with different amounts of force - Piaget asked the children to work out which of these factors affected the rate at which the pendulum swung - concrete operational stage: children changed one or more of the factors in a way to try and work out what affected the rate of the swing and rarely reached the right answer - formal operational stage: systematically tested the factors to enable them to conclude that it was the length of the string that determined how quickly it swung
Name the 8 stages of Erikson's stage theory of identity
1. Infancy (0-1) 2. Toddler (1-3) 3. Early childhood (3-6) 4. Middle childhood (6-12) 5. Adolescence (12-18) 6. Early adulthood (18-40) 7. Middle adulthood (40-65) 8. Late adulthood (65-death)
What 3 things does a theory aim to do?
1. describe what we know 2. explain what we observe 3. provide testable predictions i.e. hypothesis
Name Piaget's 4 developmental stages and the age range of them
1. sensori-motor stage (birth - 2 y.o.) 2. pre-operational stage (2 - 7 y.o.) 3. concrete operational stage (7 - 11 y.o) 4. formal operational stage (11+)
Describe the pre-conventional stage
Stage 1 (usually 0-7) - Punishment and obedience - Egocentric - Does not recognise different points of view - Confuses perspective of authority with one's own e.g. "no because he will go to prison". Stage 2 (appear @ 7) - Individual, instrumental and concrete - Aware of different interests and that these may conflict - Instrumental exchange of services, goodwill and fairness e.g. "he should steal it because he will be happier if he goes to jail than if his wife dies."
Describe the conventional stage
Stage 3 - Mutual interpersonal expectations, conformity and relationships - Following rules, living up to the expectations of others, and maintaining trust, gratitude, respect and loyalty e.g. "he should steal it because his wife expects it" Stage 4 - Social system and maintenance of ones conscience - Doing one's duty, taking the view of the system, obeying laws and upholding social order e.g. "no because the law prohibits stealing"
Describe the post-conventional stage
Stage 5 - Rights and social contract - Asserting and integrating basic rights, values and legal contracts - Laws as social contracts e.g. " he should steal it because everyone has a right to live, regardless of the law" Stage 6 - Universal ethical principles and moral point of view - Commitment to the universal principles of justice Respect for others e.g. "he should steal the medicine because saving a human life is more valuable than property rights of another person"
What is a Bobo doll
a large inflatable balloon-shaped doll with a weight in the bottom allowing it to bob back up when knocked over
describe the process of assimilation
a process by which individuals include new experiences and information in their current schemas - interpreting new experiences and information in terms of our current understanding (schemas) e.g. 3 y.o. child assimilates grapes and olives with "ball"
define sense of identity
an understanding of the nature of the self as distinct from others in terms of enduring personality characteristics
What were the 2 processes by which Piaget thought we gain and change our schemas?
assimilation and accommodation
describe the process of accommodation
changing our schemas to include new experiences and information that cannot fit into existing schemas e.g. the response from the child's parents teach him that his schema is too broad and needs adjusting for him to get what he wants
what is logical thinking
the process of working systematically through problems, developing hypotheses and testing them until a solution is found
define stage theories
theories that propose that development progresses in discrete, qualitatively distinct steps or stages that are reached in a set order
what is the ability to classify
to group objects or events by features that they have in common
describe the sensors-motor stage
- (0-2) - infants knowledge is limited to their sensory perceptions and motor activities in order to understand the world. e.g. baby grabbing everything - until 8 months dont understand object permanence i.e. have little understanding that things continue to exist if they are not within sight
define schema
Cognitive frameworks that help people organise or interpret information e.g. child with cat meets dog (cat furry with 4 legs .: dog is cat)
Name and describe Gilligan's 3 levels of reasoning
Level 1 - Self-interest: Women justified response in terms of their own needs and wishes Level 2 - Self-sacrifice: Women argued in terms of the rights of others i.e. the wishes of the partner or rights of the unborn child Level 3 - Care as a universal obligation: Women tried to reach a balance between care for others and personal wellbeing e.g. "The decision has got to be something that the woman can live with... or at least try to live with, and it must be based on where she is at and other significant people in her life are at".
what is social learning theory
the application of learning theory principles to problems of personal and social behaviour
define identity formation
the development of our long-lasting personality characteristics
what is the ability to seriate
to order objects with respect to common properties
what occurs due to unsuccessful resolution of a crisis in Erik stages of identity development
unsuccessful resolution can lead to children/adolescents/adults becoming 'stuck' at a stage and not developing normally
List Kohlberg's criticisms
— use of only male participants in his research and his choice of moral dilemmas have led him to develop a very Western, male-oriented view of moral development (Gilligan) — his research methods led him to impose stage classifications upon informants from other cultures that both distort the meaning of what they have to say and fail to take account of implicit structures in their views of their own social order (Shweder) i.e. failed to take into account other cultures