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Universal vs conntext.specific develpment

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Engr Hassan
Engr Hassan

The document discusses three key issues in developmental psychology: nature vs nurture, continuity vs discontinuity, and universal vs context-specific development. It then summarizes three major theories: Piaget's cognitive-developmental theory which emphasizes innate stages of cognitive development influenced little by environment; Erikson's psychosocial theory which views development as proceeding through innate psychosocial stages with strong environmental influences; and social cognitive learning theory which sees development as the gradual accumulation of learned behaviors through modeling and reinforcement from the environment.

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Aim The aim of this seminar is to further your understanding of some of the important issues and theories in Developmental Psychology. In Lecture 1 you were given information about the key issues and controversies in Developmental Psychology. Three of these are: a. Nature vs nurture. To what extent are the qualities we possess inborn (acquired through genetic inheritance/hereditary), and to what extent are they acquired as a result of our experiences and environmental influences? b. Continuity vs Discontinuity. How much does development simply continue earlier acquisition and how much does it lead to qualitatively new behaviours and skills? c. Universal vs context-specific development. To what extent can developmental psychology identify developmental changes that occur to everyone throughout the world and to what extent should it take specific human and cultural contexts into account? Also during the lecture you were told about some of the key theories in developmental psychology. Some of these are summarised below. For each theory, try and identify what the theory says about each of the key issues above (e.g. does Piaget believe that nature or nurture has the major influence on development?). Explain your answers. None of the theories will be as clear cut as saying for example, that nurture has NO part to play in development but each usually emphasises one side of the equation more than the other. Some of the theories are silent on some of the key issues so do not worry if you cannot identify exactly what every theory says about every key issue. Please note that these are not ALL the theories relevant to Developmental Psychology but are the ones in which the issues can be demonstrated most clearly. Theories of Human Development 1. Cognitive-Developmental Theory: Piaget The most famous cognitive-developmental theorist was Jean Piaget. Piaget was more interested in cognitive functioning than personality development. He was interested in how knowledge develops in the human organism. He considered cognitive to be a biological process and was interested in how the thinking brain functions to process incoming information. Piagets is an age-stage theory of development that stresses the action of the mind on the environment. He observed that at different ages, children show qualitatively different levels of comprehension and reasoning. Piaget believed that intellectual development proceeds in an orderly sequence that is characterised by specific growth stages. The role of the environment is merely to provide information. Some information can be assimilated into the childs existing way of thinking about the world (mental structure). Other information forces changes in the childs mental structure in order for new experiences to be added. In this way, the childs thinking processes develop. All children are said to progress through all stages regardless of environmental influences. Piagets Cognitive-Developmental Stages: a. Sensorimotor development (0-2 years). The infant exercises rudimentary sensory and motor awareness and functions almost exclusively by means of reflexive responses. b. Preoperational thought (2-7 years). The child demonstrates an increase in language abilities and concepts become more elaborate. However, the child can only view the world from its own perspective (egocentrism).
c. Concrete operations (7-11 years). The ability to consider the viewpoints of others and understand relational concepts is evident. However, the child cannot solve problems of an abstract nature. d. Formal operations (11-15). Abstract thinking is now possible and scientific problem-solving strategies emerge. 2. Psychodynamic Theory: Eriksons Psychosocial Theory Eriksons theory is based on the psychoanalytic approach to human development, founded by Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, the child is born with basic animal instincts that operate at the unconscious level of thought. These instincts require immediate gratification. Development depends in part on transforming these animal needs into socially acceptable, rational behaviour. The range of potential behaviour is very broad at birth and then becomes increasingly reduced in scope, fixed in form and shaped to conform to social norms. Freuds theory of development was a pschosexual one children were said to pass through five psychosexual stages of development. However, Eriksons theory of development converts Freuds psychosexual theory to one of psychosocial stages of ego development. Erikson believed that the process of socialising the child into a given culture occurs as the person passes through eight innately determined, sequential stages. Although he recognised the individuals instinctual drives, Erikson emphasised the childs interaction with the environment. For Erikson, the events of later childhood can undo the personality foundations built earlier in life. Essential for the theory is the organisms ability to deal with a series of crises throughout her/his lifespan. Each stage of life has a crisis that is related in some way to an element in society. The development of personality begins with strengths that commence at birth; as the child grows, strength is accrued, one quality at a time; each quality undergoing rapid growth at a critical period of development. 8 psychosocial stages: a. Basic trust vs basic mistrust (0-1 years) the nature of parental interaction with the infant is critical. Proper care, love and affection mean the child develops a sense of trust. Otherwise, the child becomes suspicious and mistrusting. b. Autonomy vs doubt (1-3 years) the child begins the experience independence. If this urge to explore the world is encouraged, children grow more confident and autonomous. If not, children may harbour doubts about their own inadequacy. c. Initiative vs guilt (3-5 years) parental reinforcement is important for the child to develop initiative and promote purpose- and goal-directiveness. Parental restrictiveness promotes guilt whenever children seek to discover the world on their own. d. Industry vs inferiority (6-11 years) child desires to manipulate objects and learn how things work, leading to a sense of order, a system of rules and understanding of the environment. Inferiority results if adults perceive such behaviour as mischievous or silly. e. Identity vs role confusion (adolescence) the task is to develop an integrated sense of self. Failure of adults to help adolescents establish a sense of personal identity may lead to inadequacy, isolation and indecisiveness (role confusion). The final three stages occur during adulthood and are not strictly relevant to this module. For your reference they are:
f. Intimacy vs isolation (young adulthood) task is to develop close meaningful relationships with others. Individuals are able to share themselves with others on a moral, emotional and sexual level. Those unwilling or unable to do this will suffer loneliness or isolation. g. Generativity vs self-absorption (middle adulthood) generativity means adults are willing to express concern for others. The self-absorbed person will be preoccupied with personal well-being and material gain. h. Integrity vs despair (old age) those with a sense of integrity have typically resolved previous psychosocial crises and are able to look back at their lives with dignity, satisfaction and personal fulfilment. Despair sets in if looking back engenders feelings of disappointment and failure. 3. Social Cognitive Learning Theory Social learning theory is a variant of Behaviourism. Behaviourism looks at the way in which behaviour is acquired, instead of looking at changes in peoples behaviour as they age. Peoples behaviour changes as they learn new responses as a result of experiences in a new environment. The difference between children and adults is a quantitative one: adults have learned many more behaviours or responses to a larger number of specific people and situations than have children. Social learning theory pays more attention to human development than behaviourism (which concerns itself with the behaviour of lower animals primarily) and gives greater recognition to the role of social reinforcements in explaining how behaviours are learned. Albert Bandura and Walter Mischel are the two foremost social learning theorists. Like the behaviourists, they view development as the gradual accumulation of responses. Human beings and environments constantly interact. Much of what children learn is acquired through their natural tendency to imitate or model the behaviour of others. If they witness a model (e.g. parent) being rewarded their imitation of the models behaviour will increase. In imitating models, children temporarily identify with them and consequently share the pleasure of being reinforced vicarious reinforcement.

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Universal vs conntext.specific develpment

  • 1. Aim The aim of this seminar is to further your understanding of some of the important issues and theories in Developmental Psychology. In Lecture 1 you were given information about the key issues and controversies in Developmental Psychology. Three of these are: a. Nature vs nurture. To what extent are the qualities we possess inborn (acquired through genetic inheritance/hereditary), and to what extent are they acquired as a result of our experiences and environmental influences? b. Continuity vs Discontinuity. How much does development simply continue earlier acquisition and how much does it lead to qualitatively new behaviours and skills? c. Universal vs context-specific development. To what extent can developmental psychology identify developmental changes that occur to everyone throughout the world and to what extent should it take specific human and cultural contexts into account? Also during the lecture you were told about some of the key theories in developmental psychology. Some of these are summarised below. For each theory, try and identify what the theory says about each of the key issues above (e.g. does Piaget believe that nature or nurture has the major influence on development?). Explain your answers. None of the theories will be as clear cut as saying for example, that nurture has NO part to play in development but each usually emphasises one side of the equation more than the other. Some of the theories are silent on some of the key issues so do not worry if you cannot identify exactly what every theory says about every key issue. Please note that these are not ALL the theories relevant to Developmental Psychology but are the ones in which the issues can be demonstrated most clearly. Theories of Human Development 1. Cognitive-Developmental Theory: Piaget The most famous cognitive-developmental theorist was Jean Piaget. Piaget was more interested in cognitive functioning than personality development. He was interested in how knowledge develops in the human organism. He considered cognitive to be a biological process and was interested in how the thinking brain functions to process incoming information. Piagets is an age-stage theory of development that stresses the action of the mind on the environment. He observed that at different ages, children show qualitatively different levels of comprehension and reasoning. Piaget believed that intellectual development proceeds in an orderly sequence that is characterised by specific growth stages. The role of the environment is merely to provide information. Some information can be assimilated into the childs existing way of thinking about the world (mental structure). Other information forces changes in the childs mental structure in order for new experiences to be added. In this way, the childs thinking processes develop. All children are said to progress through all stages regardless of environmental influences. Piagets Cognitive-Developmental Stages: a. Sensorimotor development (0-2 years). The infant exercises rudimentary sensory and motor awareness and functions almost exclusively by means of reflexive responses. b. Preoperational thought (2-7 years). The child demonstrates an increase in language abilities and concepts become more elaborate. However, the child can only view the world from its own perspective (egocentrism).
  • 2. c. Concrete operations (7-11 years). The ability to consider the viewpoints of others and understand relational concepts is evident. However, the child cannot solve problems of an abstract nature. d. Formal operations (11-15). Abstract thinking is now possible and scientific problem-solving strategies emerge. 2. Psychodynamic Theory: Eriksons Psychosocial Theory Eriksons theory is based on the psychoanalytic approach to human development, founded by Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, the child is born with basic animal instincts that operate at the unconscious level of thought. These instincts require immediate gratification. Development depends in part on transforming these animal needs into socially acceptable, rational behaviour. The range of potential behaviour is very broad at birth and then becomes increasingly reduced in scope, fixed in form and shaped to conform to social norms. Freuds theory of development was a pschosexual one children were said to pass through five psychosexual stages of development. However, Eriksons theory of development converts Freuds psychosexual theory to one of psychosocial stages of ego development. Erikson believed that the process of socialising the child into a given culture occurs as the person passes through eight innately determined, sequential stages. Although he recognised the individuals instinctual drives, Erikson emphasised the childs interaction with the environment. For Erikson, the events of later childhood can undo the personality foundations built earlier in life. Essential for the theory is the organisms ability to deal with a series of crises throughout her/his lifespan. Each stage of life has a crisis that is related in some way to an element in society. The development of personality begins with strengths that commence at birth; as the child grows, strength is accrued, one quality at a time; each quality undergoing rapid growth at a critical period of development. 8 psychosocial stages: a. Basic trust vs basic mistrust (0-1 years) the nature of parental interaction with the infant is critical. Proper care, love and affection mean the child develops a sense of trust. Otherwise, the child becomes suspicious and mistrusting. b. Autonomy vs doubt (1-3 years) the child begins the experience independence. If this urge to explore the world is encouraged, children grow more confident and autonomous. If not, children may harbour doubts about their own inadequacy. c. Initiative vs guilt (3-5 years) parental reinforcement is important for the child to develop initiative and promote purpose- and goal-directiveness. Parental restrictiveness promotes guilt whenever children seek to discover the world on their own. d. Industry vs inferiority (6-11 years) child desires to manipulate objects and learn how things work, leading to a sense of order, a system of rules and understanding of the environment. Inferiority results if adults perceive such behaviour as mischievous or silly. e. Identity vs role confusion (adolescence) the task is to develop an integrated sense of self. Failure of adults to help adolescents establish a sense of personal identity may lead to inadequacy, isolation and indecisiveness (role confusion). The final three stages occur during adulthood and are not strictly relevant to this module. For your reference they are:
  • 3. f. Intimacy vs isolation (young adulthood) task is to develop close meaningful relationships with others. Individuals are able to share themselves with others on a moral, emotional and sexual level. Those unwilling or unable to do this will suffer loneliness or isolation. g. Generativity vs self-absorption (middle adulthood) generativity means adults are willing to express concern for others. The self-absorbed person will be preoccupied with personal well-being and material gain. h. Integrity vs despair (old age) those with a sense of integrity have typically resolved previous psychosocial crises and are able to look back at their lives with dignity, satisfaction and personal fulfilment. Despair sets in if looking back engenders feelings of disappointment and failure. 3. Social Cognitive Learning Theory Social learning theory is a variant of Behaviourism. Behaviourism looks at the way in which behaviour is acquired, instead of looking at changes in peoples behaviour as they age. Peoples behaviour changes as they learn new responses as a result of experiences in a new environment. The difference between children and adults is a quantitative one: adults have learned many more behaviours or responses to a larger number of specific people and situations than have children. Social learning theory pays more attention to human development than behaviourism (which concerns itself with the behaviour of lower animals primarily) and gives greater recognition to the role of social reinforcements in explaining how behaviours are learned. Albert Bandura and Walter Mischel are the two foremost social learning theorists. Like the behaviourists, they view development as the gradual accumulation of responses. Human beings and environments constantly interact. Much of what children learn is acquired through their natural tendency to imitate or model the behaviour of others. If they witness a model (e.g. parent) being rewarded their imitation of the models behaviour will increase. In imitating models, children temporarily identify with them and consequently share the pleasure of being reinforced vicarious reinforcement.