PSYC 2700 MIDTERM 1 QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
ANSWERS
Why study child development? - Answers - - improve one's own child-rearing
- help society promote well-being of children in general
- better understand human nature
What is a theory? - Answers - - a set of beliefs aimed at explaining facts
- facts: observable phenomena; do not change
- theories: scientists' explanations and interpretations of facts
- theories present ideas that are testable, drive research; influence how we study an
issue
- facts don't change; theories explaining facts may be improved or modified
Psychological theories - Answers - provide a model to understand thoughts, emotions,
and behaviors
A psychological theory must: - Answers - - describe some thoughts/emotions/behaviors
- make predictions about future thoughts/emotions/behaviors
Recurring issues: - Answers - - nature-nurture
- continuous-discontinuous
- universal and context-specific
Nature - Answers - biological endowment, especially genes from our parents
Nurture - Answers - physical and social environments that influence our development
Nature-nurture - Answers - - false dichotomy
- work together to shape development
- ex. Schizophrenia
Continuous-discontinuous - Answers - continuous: changes with age occur gradually in
small increments, development occurs skill by skill task by task, learning theorists -
Watson, Bandura
Discontinuous: changes with age include occasional large shifts, developments shifts
result in qualitative changes, stage theorists - Piaget, Freud, Erikson, Kohlberg
Universal and context-specific - Answers - universal: most people worldwide follow a
similar developmental path
Context-specific: development is deeply intertwined with the context in which it occurs
, Four major theories of development: - Answers - learning, cognitive development,
evolutionary, ecological
Learning - Answers - - emphasize role of experience
- rewards and punishment
- and learning from watching others
Behaviorism - Answers - - part of learning theory
- Watson and Skinner
- reinforcement: increases the future likelihood of the behavior
- punishment: decreases the future likelihood of the behavior
Social learning theory - Answers - - Bandura
- reinforcement & punishment are powerful
- but people also learn by watching others --> imitation, observational learning
- imitation is not just mimicry
Learning theories... - Answers - nurture, continuous, universal
Cognitive development - Answers - - focus on mind: thought processes, construction of
knowledge
- how children think and how thinking changes over time
- roots in nativism (Rousseau)
- modern cognitive development theories: more interactionist
- major figure: Piaget, Vygotsky
Piaget: - Answers - most influential developmentalist of the 20th century
- children are like scientists
- they want to understand the world and how it works
- children revise their theories radically at a few critical points --> leading to new theories
-revisions happen in a universal sequence at particular ages
Recurring issues... - Answers - nature, discontinuous, universal
Evolutionary - Answers - - applies concepts of natural selection and adaptation to
human behavior
- Charles Darwin
- focus on functions of behaviors --> how did behavior ensure survival of the species?
- seek similar patterns of behavior across human societies and cultures
- studying child development can provide insights into human nature
- some propose "critical periods"
- ex. Kindchenschema (baby schema)
Evolutionary theories... - Answers - nature, discontinuous, universal
Ecological - Answers - - stressed effects of context on development
ANSWERS
Why study child development? - Answers - - improve one's own child-rearing
- help society promote well-being of children in general
- better understand human nature
What is a theory? - Answers - - a set of beliefs aimed at explaining facts
- facts: observable phenomena; do not change
- theories: scientists' explanations and interpretations of facts
- theories present ideas that are testable, drive research; influence how we study an
issue
- facts don't change; theories explaining facts may be improved or modified
Psychological theories - Answers - provide a model to understand thoughts, emotions,
and behaviors
A psychological theory must: - Answers - - describe some thoughts/emotions/behaviors
- make predictions about future thoughts/emotions/behaviors
Recurring issues: - Answers - - nature-nurture
- continuous-discontinuous
- universal and context-specific
Nature - Answers - biological endowment, especially genes from our parents
Nurture - Answers - physical and social environments that influence our development
Nature-nurture - Answers - - false dichotomy
- work together to shape development
- ex. Schizophrenia
Continuous-discontinuous - Answers - continuous: changes with age occur gradually in
small increments, development occurs skill by skill task by task, learning theorists -
Watson, Bandura
Discontinuous: changes with age include occasional large shifts, developments shifts
result in qualitative changes, stage theorists - Piaget, Freud, Erikson, Kohlberg
Universal and context-specific - Answers - universal: most people worldwide follow a
similar developmental path
Context-specific: development is deeply intertwined with the context in which it occurs
, Four major theories of development: - Answers - learning, cognitive development,
evolutionary, ecological
Learning - Answers - - emphasize role of experience
- rewards and punishment
- and learning from watching others
Behaviorism - Answers - - part of learning theory
- Watson and Skinner
- reinforcement: increases the future likelihood of the behavior
- punishment: decreases the future likelihood of the behavior
Social learning theory - Answers - - Bandura
- reinforcement & punishment are powerful
- but people also learn by watching others --> imitation, observational learning
- imitation is not just mimicry
Learning theories... - Answers - nurture, continuous, universal
Cognitive development - Answers - - focus on mind: thought processes, construction of
knowledge
- how children think and how thinking changes over time
- roots in nativism (Rousseau)
- modern cognitive development theories: more interactionist
- major figure: Piaget, Vygotsky
Piaget: - Answers - most influential developmentalist of the 20th century
- children are like scientists
- they want to understand the world and how it works
- children revise their theories radically at a few critical points --> leading to new theories
-revisions happen in a universal sequence at particular ages
Recurring issues... - Answers - nature, discontinuous, universal
Evolutionary - Answers - - applies concepts of natural selection and adaptation to
human behavior
- Charles Darwin
- focus on functions of behaviors --> how did behavior ensure survival of the species?
- seek similar patterns of behavior across human societies and cultures
- studying child development can provide insights into human nature
- some propose "critical periods"
- ex. Kindchenschema (baby schema)
Evolutionary theories... - Answers - nature, discontinuous, universal
Ecological - Answers - - stressed effects of context on development
