PSY 355 Midterm Study Guide
Spring 2023
1. What is child development?
a. The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the human
life span
2. Domains of development
a. Physical Development, Cognitive Development, Social Development, Emotional
Development, & Linguistic Development
3. 5 major periods of development
a. Prenatal, Infancy, Early Childhood, Middle & Late Childhood, and Adolescence
4. Timing of influences
a.
5. What are Cohort effects? Examples?
a. Effects due to a person’s time of birth, era, or generation but not to actual age
i. Example: 90s – early 00’s babies and their connection through things like
Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Tweety bird etc.
6. Theories of child development (5)
a. Nature-nurture issue-The historical issue regarding whether development is
primarily influenced by nature or nurture. The “nature” proponents claimed that
biological inheritance was the more important influence on development; the
“nurture” proponents asserted that environmental experiences were more
important.
b. Continuity and Discontinuity in Development- Is our development like that of a
caterpillar suddenly becoming a butterfly
c. Early later experience issue- The issue of the degree to which early experiences
(especially infancy) or later experiences are the key determinants of the child’s
development.
d. Psychoanalytic theories Development- Primarily unconscious and heavily colored
by emotion. Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic
workings of the mind must be analyzed to understand behavior. Early experiences
with parents are emphasized.
7. Freud
a. Personality Structures
i. Id: Structure of personality that consists of instincts; has no contact with
reality
ii. Ego: New structure of personality that develops as children experience the
demands and constraints of reality
iii. Super ego: Right or wrong; also considered our conscious.
b. Stages of Psychosexual Development
i. Oral Stage (birth to 1 ½ years)
ii. Anal Stage (1 ½ to 3 years)
iii. Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years)
iv. Latency Stage (6 years to puberty)
v. Genital Stage (puberty on)
, 8. Erikson
a. 8 stages of social development
i. Trust vs Mistrust: Infancy (first year)
ii. Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt: Infancy (1 to 3 years)
iii. Initiative vs Guilt: Preschool years (3 to 5 years)
iv. Industry vs inferiority: Elementary school years (6 to puberty)
v. Identity vs Identity Confusion: Adolescence (10 to 20 years)
vi. Intimacy vs Isolation: Early Adulthood (20s, 30s)
vii. Generativity vs Stagnation: Middle Adulthood (40s, 50s)
viii. Integrity vs Despair: Late Adulthood(60s on)
Piaget Page 102
b. 4 stages of cognitive development
i. Sensorimotor Stage ,Preoperational Stage ,Concrete Operational Stage, &
Formal Operational Stage
c. Theory
i. Children construct their understanding of the world
d. Sensorimotor stage details
i. Constructing and understanding of the world by coordinating sensory
experiences with motoric actions (Birth to up to 2 years)
9. Vygotsky
a. Zone of proximal development
i. More you are exposed to the more you learn
ii. How cultural and social interaction guide cognitive development
10. Pavlov
a. Classical Conditioning
i. Neutral stimulus that produces a response produced by another stimulus
11. Skinner
a. Operant conditioning
i. A behavior followed by a rewarding stimulus is more likely to reoccur
12. Bandura
a. Social learning
i. Behavior, environment, and cognition are developmental key factors
13. Bowlby
a. Attachment
i. To caregiver over the first year of life
1. Important consequences
ii. Positive & Secure: Individual likely to develop positively in childhood and
adulthood
14. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecology theory
a. Microsystem: Setting an individual lives in
b. Mesosystem: Relations between microsystems; Connections between contexts
c. Exosystem: Social setting where the individual doesn’t have an active role in
immediate context
d. Macrosystem: Culture individual lives in
e. Chronosystem: Patterning of events, historical circumstances, and transitions over
life course
Spring 2023
1. What is child development?
a. The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the human
life span
2. Domains of development
a. Physical Development, Cognitive Development, Social Development, Emotional
Development, & Linguistic Development
3. 5 major periods of development
a. Prenatal, Infancy, Early Childhood, Middle & Late Childhood, and Adolescence
4. Timing of influences
a.
5. What are Cohort effects? Examples?
a. Effects due to a person’s time of birth, era, or generation but not to actual age
i. Example: 90s – early 00’s babies and their connection through things like
Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Tweety bird etc.
6. Theories of child development (5)
a. Nature-nurture issue-The historical issue regarding whether development is
primarily influenced by nature or nurture. The “nature” proponents claimed that
biological inheritance was the more important influence on development; the
“nurture” proponents asserted that environmental experiences were more
important.
b. Continuity and Discontinuity in Development- Is our development like that of a
caterpillar suddenly becoming a butterfly
c. Early later experience issue- The issue of the degree to which early experiences
(especially infancy) or later experiences are the key determinants of the child’s
development.
d. Psychoanalytic theories Development- Primarily unconscious and heavily colored
by emotion. Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic
workings of the mind must be analyzed to understand behavior. Early experiences
with parents are emphasized.
7. Freud
a. Personality Structures
i. Id: Structure of personality that consists of instincts; has no contact with
reality
ii. Ego: New structure of personality that develops as children experience the
demands and constraints of reality
iii. Super ego: Right or wrong; also considered our conscious.
b. Stages of Psychosexual Development
i. Oral Stage (birth to 1 ½ years)
ii. Anal Stage (1 ½ to 3 years)
iii. Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years)
iv. Latency Stage (6 years to puberty)
v. Genital Stage (puberty on)
, 8. Erikson
a. 8 stages of social development
i. Trust vs Mistrust: Infancy (first year)
ii. Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt: Infancy (1 to 3 years)
iii. Initiative vs Guilt: Preschool years (3 to 5 years)
iv. Industry vs inferiority: Elementary school years (6 to puberty)
v. Identity vs Identity Confusion: Adolescence (10 to 20 years)
vi. Intimacy vs Isolation: Early Adulthood (20s, 30s)
vii. Generativity vs Stagnation: Middle Adulthood (40s, 50s)
viii. Integrity vs Despair: Late Adulthood(60s on)
Piaget Page 102
b. 4 stages of cognitive development
i. Sensorimotor Stage ,Preoperational Stage ,Concrete Operational Stage, &
Formal Operational Stage
c. Theory
i. Children construct their understanding of the world
d. Sensorimotor stage details
i. Constructing and understanding of the world by coordinating sensory
experiences with motoric actions (Birth to up to 2 years)
9. Vygotsky
a. Zone of proximal development
i. More you are exposed to the more you learn
ii. How cultural and social interaction guide cognitive development
10. Pavlov
a. Classical Conditioning
i. Neutral stimulus that produces a response produced by another stimulus
11. Skinner
a. Operant conditioning
i. A behavior followed by a rewarding stimulus is more likely to reoccur
12. Bandura
a. Social learning
i. Behavior, environment, and cognition are developmental key factors
13. Bowlby
a. Attachment
i. To caregiver over the first year of life
1. Important consequences
ii. Positive & Secure: Individual likely to develop positively in childhood and
adulthood
14. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecology theory
a. Microsystem: Setting an individual lives in
b. Mesosystem: Relations between microsystems; Connections between contexts
c. Exosystem: Social setting where the individual doesn’t have an active role in
immediate context
d. Macrosystem: Culture individual lives in
e. Chronosystem: Patterning of events, historical circumstances, and transitions over
life course
