Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Historical and conceptual issues in developmental psychology
- Nature Vs Nurture Debate
- Plato 4th C- People are born with innate knowledge (nature).
Aristotle 4th C: Knowledge comes from experience (nurture). John
Locke (16-17th C): saw the child as a tabula rasa (nurture)
Roussseau 18th C: Noble savages learning emerges from
spontaneous interactions with objects and people (nurture). Freud
20th C- concluded that biological drives exerted a crucial influence
on development (nature)
- Watson, 1930 (nurture): Believes genetic
pre-disposition is unimportant- it is the
environment the child si raised in.
- The process of classical conditioning explains all
aspects of human psychology. He also believes all
human differences were due to different
experiences in learning.
- Twin studies: Compare development of monozigotic or
dizigotic twins raised apart from birth by different parents
vs. the monozigotic or dizigotic twins raised by the same
parents.
- Adopted Romanian orphans (Rutter et al)2004: -Compared
Romanian orphans adopted by British parents vs British
orphans adopted by British parents. Studied from adoption
until 6.
- -144 Romanian orphans adopted into uk
families 1990-1992: 45 placed under 6
months, 54 places between 6-24 months
and 45 places 24-42 months. Comparison
group - 52 UK children before 6 months.
- Historical overview: Binet Study of
child development began around
end of 19th century
- - Binet started investigating children's intelligence and developing standardised tests 1900
- Commisioned to identify students who needed educational assistance
- concept of a mental age
- Now stanford-Binet test- Intelligence Quotient
(IQ): Test five factors of cognitive ability: - Fluid
Reasoning- Knowledge, Quantitative
Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing and
Working memory. Each of these factors is
tested in two separate domains, verbal and
nonverbal.
- Pavlov
- Behaviourism: All behaviour is learned= nurture
- Pavlov's dogs (1890-1930s)- conditioning
- Watson and Rayner (1920) showed
that classical conditioning applied to
humans as well as animals in Litlle
Albert experiment.
- Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis (1950s)
- Explained social, linguistic, and cognitive impairments in
orphanages due to lack of emotional warmth. 'Failure to
thrive'
- Ebidence from Harlow's Monkeys- 1960s
- Critical period for attachment formation- birth to 3 years.
- Bandura - Social learning theory- Bobo doll experiment
- Children learn by watching others=nurture
- Applied aspects: Still used in debates about
children watching videos, playing violent
computer games etc.
- Children's behaviour changes as soon as
they attend nursery etc, once they
begin imitationg other children
araround them.
- Recent influences :
- Jean Piaget (1920s-70s): Piaget's stage theories of
cognitive development - The child is born with
structures ready to absorb knowledge
- Lev Vygotsky (1920s.30s) - Vygotsky's
socioculture theory of cognitive
development - The child develops
understanding through his/her interaction
with the world