Human Growth and Development CLEP Study Guide

nature vs. nurture controversy - Answer-it is agreed that both have some influence in development, but some people think it is more one than the other. biologically built vs. environment tabula rasa - Answer-this is what the human mind is at birth (according to the nurture side of the nature versus nurture controversy), like a blank slate that experience writes on Discontinuity or Stage Theories - Answer-Argues that development progresses through a series of stages. Each stage involves a specific task. Once the stage is completed the child moves on to the next stage. The developing person is changing qualitatively, not quantitatively. Continuity Theories - Answer-Suggest that development is best described as a steady growth process. Developmental change is described as occurring in small steps or increments. (Skills and behavior improve but they do not change in a qualitatively.) Child Development vs. Life Span - Answer-Some theories of development argue that development is complete at the end of childhood/adolescence (Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget are examples). Life Span theories of development argue that growth and change continue to occur throughout the entire life span (Erick Erickson took a life span perspective). universality vs. context specific - Answer-a theory that applies to all cultures and time periods (such as Piaget proposed for his theory) Bronfenbrenner is an example of the alternative view which points out that there are differences in development depending on the culture/environment (such as in collectivist cultures versus individualistic cultures) Collectivist cultures - Answer-Places greater value on the common good than individual achievement Individualistic cultures - Answer-values individual achievements and the pursuit of individual goals accommodation - Answer-by Piaget. modifying an existing scheme assimilation - Answer-by Piaget. taking new information from the world and incorporating it into an existing scheme Scheme - Answer-by Piaget. basic thought about the world, objects, events disequilibrium - Answer-what happens when a child understands the world in a particular way (their scheme) then sees something happen that can't fit into that understanding. constructivism - Answer-Piaget's position that argues that children construct schema (organized patterns of thought or action) based on experiences they have actively exploring the environment. Piaget's stages of cognitive development - Answer-sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, formal operations (each stage represents a qualitatively different way of thinking instead of just acquiring more information over time) sensorimotor stage - Answer-0-2 years old. Lacks concept of object permanence until the end of this stage (understanding that objects continue to exist even when their presence can't be sensed) & knows what they can do with their senses. By the end of this stage they also have symbolic representation (when one thing stands for another thing) and deferred imitation (imitating a model's behavior awhile after it was observed). Piaget. preoperational stage - Answer-2-7 years old. They think symbolically (e.g. language), are egocentric (have trouble seeing things from others' perspectives), use transductive reasoning (not reasoning logically about cause and effect), use animitic thinking (projecting human abilities and traits onto inanimate objects), and think semilogically. Piaget. concrete operations - Answer-7-11 years old. Can understand transformation (an object changing form is still the same object), reversibility (starting at the conclusion and working back to the start), conservation (an objects mass, volume, weight, etc. doesn't change because its appearance changes), can group things into categories, and think logically as long as it is not abstract. Piaget. Formal operations - Answer-12+ years old. They can handle hypotheticals/abstract and scientific reasoning, logical and systematic thinking (algebra, literary, metaphor). Although he thought not all people reach this stage of cognitive development, the end goal is hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Piaget. information processing approach - Answer-a relatively new approach that uses the computer as a metaphor for the human mind (they use the two-store model of memory) learning theory or the behaviorist perspective - Answer-describes developmental change as a product of learning (nurture side of nature vs. nurture & are continuity theories). Learning is a change in observable behavior (and behavior is controlled by stimuli in the environment). (key people: Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, Bandura) John Watson - Answer-founded the Behavioral Psychology in 1913. (he believed that at birth we only have these emotions: love, anger, and fear)