PSY 302 - Intro to Child Development Questions With Possible Solutions

Why do we study children? - ANS 1. Learn how to raise children. 2. Aid in developing social policies with respect to children. 3. Understanding human nature. When was the beginning of the nature vs. nurture debate? - ANS 4th Century B.C. What did Plato state? - ANS We have innate knowledge; self-control and discipline. What did Aristotle say? - ANS Knowledge comes from experience; fitting to the needs of the individual child. What did Thomas Hobbes believe? - ANS We are inherently bad and passive creatures. What did Jean Jacques Rosseau believe? - ANS We are inherently good and actively involved in development (innate purity). What did John Locke believe? - ANS We are entirely shaped by our experience, we are a blank slate/tabula rasa. What was Darwin's approach to child development? - ANS Baby biographies. Believed child development retraces the entire evolutionary history of species. Who was Stanley Hall? - ANS Founder of developmental psychology. Conducted questionnaires and large-scale scientific investigations. Who was Freud? - ANS Psychoanalytic Theory Id = irrational/biological instincts Ego = rational/realistic solutions Superego = internalized moral values/standards Who was John Watson? - ANS Behaviouristic Theory, emphasis on nurture - child development is controlled by environmental factors. Who was Jean Piaget? - ANS Developed theory of cognitive development. Believed intelligence was a basic life process. What are the 7 basic questions in child development? - ANS 1. Nature vs Nurture 2. Active/Passive 3. Continuity vs. Discontinuity 4. Mechanisms of Developmental Change 5. Sociocultural Context 6. Individual Differences 7. Children's Welfare What is nature and nurture? - ANS Nature is biological/genes, nurture is environmental influences and then there is the interaction of both. What is active and passive? - ANS Active children actively contribute to their own development, passive children are passive recipients of environmental influence. What is continuity vs. discontinuity? - ANS Is development additive and gradual/quantitative changes (continuity) or a series of discrete stages/qualitative changes (discontinuity). What is the interaction of genes and environments? - ANS Genes are the production of neurotransmitters and are associated with task performance which as environmental and learning experiences are the expression of genes and the wiring of the brain. What is sociocultural context? - ANS The physical, social, cultural, economic, and historical circumstances that make up any child's environment. Development is affected by ethnicity, race and socioeconomic status. How do individual differences affect development? - ANS Genetic differences, treatment by parents, reactions to experiences, choices of environment. How can children's welfare affect development? - ANS Early diagnosis can provide more optimal outcomes.