Enduring themes and theories in child development Flashcards
What is the nature versus nurture debate?
an issue concerning the manner in which genetic and environmental factors influence development
How do children shape their own development?
-active child: children actively influence their own development through their own unique individual characteristics
continuous development
-development follows a smooth progression
discontinuous development
-development has a serious of abrupt shifts
biological approach
- development rooted in biology
- maturational theory: development reflects a specific & prearranged scheme or plan w/in the body
- ethological theory: development is evolutionary and behaviors are only for survival value
psychodynamic approach
- Freud
- development is largely determined by how well people resolve conflicts they face at different ages (id, ego, superego
-Erikson
learning approach
- Skinner
- emphasizes that children actively interpret what they see
- operant condiitoning
- reinforcement & punishment
- children learn by imitation or observational learning
contextual approach
- Vygotsky
- emphasized the role of culture in children’s development
-adults help children acquire the beliefs, customs, and skills of their culture
cognitive approach
- Piaget
- focuses on how children think and how their thinking changes over time
id
the element of personality that desires immediate gratification of bodily wants and needs
-present at birth
ego
the rational component of the personality
-develops during the first few years of life
superego
the moral component of the personality that has incorporated adult standards of right and wrong
