Unit 1: The Field of Child Psychology Mind Map

Annotations:

• Florida State College at Jacksonville & Grayson, T. (2022). Child and Adolescent Psychology. Pressbooks. Retrieved 5/5/2024 https://fscj.pressbooks.pub/childpsychology/

1. Chapter 4: Behavioral and Social Learning Theories and Cognitive Theories

   Annotations:

   • Strictly speaking, behavioral theories are not developmental theories. Both Freud and Erikson were interested in developmental stages and how we change across time. Behavioral theories believe that reinforcers and punishers function the same regardless of age or stage of development, which is why they are psychological theories, but not developmental theories.
   1. Ivan Pavlov (1880–1937)
      1. Classical Conditioning

         Annotations:

         • As he recorded the amount of salivation his laboratory dogs produced as they ate, he noticed that they actually began to salivate before the food arrived, as the researcher walked down the hall and toward the cage. “This,” he thought, “is not natural!” One would expect a dog to automatically salivate when the food hit their palate, but BEFORE the food comes? Why would this happen? The dogs knew that the food was coming because they had learned to associate the footsteps with the food. The key word here is “learned.” A learned response is called a “conditioned” response. Pavlov began to experiment with this “psychic” reflex. He began to ring a bell, for instance, prior to introducing the food. Sure enough, after making this connection several times, the dogs could be made to salivate to the sound of a bell. Once the bell had become an event to which the dogs had learned to salivate, it was called a conditioned stimulus. The act of salivating to a bell was a response that had also been learned, now termed a conditioned response. The response, salivation, is the same whether it is conditioned or unconditioned (unlearned or natural). What changed is the stimulus to which the dog salivates. One is natural (unconditioned) and one is learned (conditioned). 
   2. John B. Watson,
      1. Little Albert

         Annotations:

         • He believed that parents could be taught to help shape their children’s behavior and tried to demonstrate the power of classical conditioning with his famous experiment on 18 month-old boy named little Albert. Watson sat Albert down and introduced a variety of seemingly scary objects to him: a burning piece of newspaper, a white rat, etc. But Albert remained curious and reached for each of these things. Watson knew that one of our inborn fears is the fear of loud noises so he proceeded to make a loud noise each time he introduced one of Albert’s favorites, a white rat. After hearing the loud noise several times paired with the rat, Albert soon became fearful of the rat and began to cry when it was introduced. Watson filmed this experiment for posterity and used it to demonstrate that he could help parents achieve any outcome they desired, if they would only follow his advice.
   3. Operant Conditioning and Repeating Actions

      Annotations:

      • Operant conditioning tends to work best if you focus on trying to encourage a behavior or move a person into the direction you want them to go rather than telling them what not to do. 
      1. Thorndike (1874-1949)

         Annotations:

         • Operant Conditioning is another learning theory that emphasizes a more conscious type of learning than that of classical conditioning. A person (or animal) does something (operates something) to see what effect it might bring. Simply said, operant conditioning describes how we repeat behaviors because they pay off for us. 
         1. The law of effect suggests that we will repeat an action if it is followed by a good effect.
      2. B.F. Skinner (1904–1990)
         1. Skinner believed that we learn best when our actions are reinforced.

            Annotations:

            • For example, a child who cleans his room and is reinforced (rewarded) with a big hug and words of praise is more likely to clean it again than a child whose deed goes unnoticed. Skinner believed that almost anything could be reinforced. A reinforcer is anything following a behavior that makes it more likely to occur again. It can be something intrinsically rewarding (called intrinsic or primary reinforcers), such as food or praise, or it can be something that is rewarding because it can be exchanged for what one really wants (such as money to buy a cookie). Such reinforcers are referred to as secondary reinforcers or extrinsic reinforcers.
            1. Positive and Negative Reinforcement

               Annotations:

               • Reinforcers are used to encourage a behavior
               1. Positive reinforcement involves adding something to the situation in order to encourage a behavior.
               2. Other times, taking something away from a situation can be reinforcing.
         2. Punishers
            1. A punisher is anything that follows an act and decreases the chance it will reoccur.

               Annotations:

               • But often a punished behavior doesn’t really go away. It is just suppressed and may reoccur whenever the threat of punishment is removed.
   4. Social Learning Theory
      1. Albert Bandura
         1. many of our actions are not learned through conditioning; rather, they are learned by watching others (1977).

            Annotations:

            • Young children frequently learn behaviors through imitation. Sometimes, particularly when we do not know what else to do, we learn by modeling or copying the behavior of others.
   5. Bandura (1986)
      1. interplay between the environment and the individual

         Annotations:

         • There is interplay between our personality and the way we interpret events and how they influence us. This concept is called reciprocal determinism. An example of this might be the interplay between parents and children . Parents not only influence their child’s environment, perhaps intentionally through the use of reinforcement, etc., but children influence parents as well. Parents may respond differently with their first child than with their fourth. Perhaps they try to be the perfect parents with their firstborn, but by the time their last child comes along they have very different expectations both of themselves and their child. Our environment creates us and we create our environment.
   6. Cognitive Theories

      Annotations:

      • Cognitive theories focus on how our mental processes or cognitions change over time. 
      1. Jean Piaget

         Annotations:

         • Jean Piaget (1896–1980) is one of the most influential cognitive theorists inspired to explore children’s ability to think and reason by watching his own children’s development. He was one of the first to recognize and map out the ways in which children’s intelligence differs from that of adults.  When faced with something new, a child may either fit it into an existing framework ( schema ) and match it with something known ( assimilation ) such as calling all animals with four legs “doggies” because he or she knows the word doggie, or expand the framework of knowledge to accommodate the new situation ( accommodation ) by learning a new word to more accurately name the animal. This is the underlying dynamic in our own cognition.
         1. Stages of Cognitive Development

            Annotations:

            •  For about the first two years of life, the child experiences the world primarily through their senses and motor skills. Piaget referred to this type of intelligence as sensorimotor intelligence . During the preschool years, the child begins to master the use of symbols or words and is able to think of the world symbolically but not yet logically. This stage is the preoperational stage of development. The concrete operational stage in middle childhood is marked by an ability to use logic in understanding the physical world. In the final stage, the formal operational stage the adolescent learns to think abstractly and to use logic in both concrete and abstract ways.
      2. Lev Vygotsky

         Annotations:

         • Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) was a Russian psychologist who wrote in the early 1900s. Vygotsky’s work was discovered in the United States in the 1960s and he became more widely known in the 1980s. Vygotsky differed with Piaget in that he believed that a person not only has a set of abilities, but also a set of potential abilities that can be realized if given the proper guidance from others. His sociocultural theory emphasizes the importance of culture and interaction in the development of cognitive abilities. 
         1. Scaffolding

            Annotations:

            • He believed that through guided participation known as scaffolding, with a teacher or capable peer, a child can learn cognitive skills within a certain range known as the zone of proximal development. Have you ever taught a child to perform a task? Maybe it was brushing her teeth or preparing food. Chances are you spoke to her and described what you were doing while you demonstrated the skill and let her work along with you all through the process. You gave her assistance when she seemed to need it, but once she knew what to do-you stood back and let her go. 
2. Chapter 2:Child Development – Foundations of Child and Adolescent Psychology
   1. Aristotle (384–322 BC) believed that children are born as blank slates.

      Annotations:

      • This view of human nature sees children and their development shaped by their environment and experiences. Locke advocated for parents to be good role models for their children in order to facilitate the development of character. Children learn self-control, kindness, and honesty by observing their parents exhibit these traits.
   2. Original sin is another view, humans are born with the original sin of Adam and Eve.

      Annotations:

      • Within this view, children must be raised to accept the moral doctrine of society and to always be mindful to behave in morally acceptable ways. Without such instruction, children are likely to behave in ways that are either harmful to themselves or harmful to others.
   3. The final view of human nature that we are going to learn about is referred to as the innate goodness view. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), a French philosopher, was an advocate of this view.

      Annotations:

      •  In this view, parents simply need to give the child freedom to develop along his or her pathway, and to protect them from the corruptible influences of society.
   4. Domains of Development
      1. Physical

         Annotations:

         • Physical development includes genetics, prenatal development, physical development, sensation/perception, and motor skill development.
      2. Cognitive

         Annotations:

         • Cognitive development includes changes in thinking across childhood, attention, memory, intelligence, problem solving, language, and academic skill development.
      3. Socioemotional

         Annotations:

         • Socioemotional development includes the influence of parenting style, peers and friendships, play, schools, society, and culture.
   5. Developmental issues

      Annotations:

      • Nurture refers to environmental factors, such as family, friends, and schools. Nature refers to anything biological in nature, such as genetics.
   6. Stages of Development
      1. Prenantal Development

         Annotations:

         • Conception occurs and development begins. All of the major structures of the body are forming and the health of the mother is of primary concern. Understanding nutrition, teratogens (or environmental factors that can lead to birth defects), and labor and delivery are primary concerns.
      2. Infancy and Toddlerhood

         Annotations:

         • The first year and a half to two years of life are ones of dramatic growth and change. A newborn, with a keen sense of hearing but very poor vision is transformed into a walking, talking toddler within a relatively short period of time. Caregivers are also transformed from someone who manages feeding and sleep schedules to a constantly moving guide and safety inspector for a mobile, energetic child.
      3. Early Childhood

         Annotations:

         • The ages of six through eleven comprise middle childhood and much of what children experience at this age is connected to their involvement in the early grades of school. Now the world becomes one of learning and testing new academic skills and by assessing one’s abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons between self and others. Schools compare students and make these comparisons public through team sports, test scores, and other forms of recognition. Growth rates slow down and children are able to refine their motor skills at this point in life. And children begin to learn about social relationships beyond the family through interaction with friends and fellow students.
      4. Middle Childhood

         Annotations:

         • The ages of six through eleven comprise middle childhood and much of what children experience at this age is connected to their involvement in the early grades of school. Now the world becomes one of learning and testing new academic skills and by assessing one’s abilities and accomplishments by making comparisons between self and others. Schools compare students and make these comparisons public through team sports, test scores, and other forms of recognition. Growth rates slow down and children are able to refine their motor skills at this point in life. And children begin to learn about social relationships beyond the family through interaction with friends and fellow students.
      5. Adolescence

         Annotations:

         • Adolescence is a period of dramatic physical change marked by an overall physical growth spurt and sexual maturation, known as puberty. It is also a time of cognitive change as the adolescent begins to think of new possibilities and to consider abstract concepts such as love, fear, and freedom. Ironically, adolescents have a sense of invincibility that puts them at greater risk of dying from accidents or contracting sexually transmitted infections that can have lifelong consequences.
      6. Early Adulthood

         Annotations:

         • The twenties and thirties are often thought of as early adulthood. It is a time when we are at our physiological peak but are most at risk for involvement in violent crimes and substance abuse. It is a time of focusing on the future and putting a lot of energy into making choices that will help one earn the status of a full adult in the eyes of others. Love and work are primary concerns at this stage of life. (2) The late thirties through the mid-sixties is referred to as middle adulthood. This is a period in which aging, that began earlier, becomes more noticeable and a period at which many people are at their peak of productivity in love and work. It may be a period of gaining expertise in certain fields and being able to understand problems and find solutions with greater efficiency than before. It can also be a time of becoming more realistic about possibilities in life previously considered; of recognizing the difference between what is possible and what is likely. This is also the age group hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic in Africa resulting in a substantial decrease in the number of workers in those economies (Weitz, 2007).
      7. Middle Adulthood
      8. Late Adulthood

         Annotations:

         • This period of the life span has increased in the last 100 years, particularly in industrialized countries. Late adulthood is sometimes subdivided into two or three categories such as the “young old” and “old old” or the “young old”, “old old”, and “oldest old”. We will follow the former categorization and make the distinction between the “young old” who are people between 65 and 79 and the “old old” or those who are 80 and older. One of the primary differences between these groups is that the “young old” are very similar to midlife adults; still working, still relatively healthy, and still interested in being productive and active. The “old old” remain productive and active and the majority continues to live independently, but risks of the diseases of old age, such as arteriosclerosis, cancer, and cerebral vascular disease increases substantially for this age group. Issues of housing, healthcare, and extending active life expectancy are only a few of the topics of concern for this age group. A better way to appreciate the diversity of people in late adulthood is to go beyond chronological age and examine whether a person is experiencing optimal aging, normal aging (in which the changes are similar to most of those of the same age), or impaired aging (referring to someone who has more physical challenge and disease than others of the same age). (2)
      9. Death and Dying
3. Chapter 3: Theories of Development

   Annotations:

   •  Developmental theories offer explanations about how we develop, why we change over time, and the kinds of influences that impact development.
   1. Psychodynamic Theory
      1. Freud’s assumption that personality forms during the first few years of life and that the ways in which parents or other caregivers interact with children have a long-lasting impact on children’s emotional states have guided parents, educators, clinicians, and policy-makers for many years.
      2. Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was a Viennese M. D.
         1. Theory of the Mind

            Annotations:

            • Freud believed that most of our mental processes, motivations and desires are outside of our awareness. Our consciousness, that of which we are aware, represents only the tip of the iceberg that comprises our mental state. The preconscious represents that which can easily be called into the conscious mind. During development, our motivations and desires are gradually pushed into the unconscious because raw desires are often unacceptable in society.
         2. Theory of the Self

            Annotations:

            • As adults, our personality or self consists of three main parts: Id Ego Superego The id is the part of the self with which we are born. It consists of the biologically-driven self and includes our instincts and drives. It is the part of us that wants immediate gratification. Later in life, it comes to house our deepest, often unacceptable desires, such as sex and aggression. It operates under the pleasure principle , which means that the criteria for determining whether something is good or bad is whether it feels good or bad. An infant is all id.The ego is the part of the self that develops as we learn that there are limits on what is acceptable to do and that often we must wait to have our needs satisfied. This part of the self is realistic and reasonable. It knows how to make compromises. It operates under the reality principle or the recognition that sometimes need gratification must be postponed for practical reasons. It acts as a mediator between the id and the superego and is viewed as the healthiest part of the self. The superego is the part of the self that develops as we learn the rules, standards, and values of society. This part of the self takes into account the moral guidelines that are a part of our culture. It is a rule-governed part of the self that operates under a sense of guilt (guilt is a social emotion-it is a feeling that others think less of you or believe you to be wrong). If a person violates the superego, he or she feels guilty. The superego is useful but can be too strong; in this case, a person might feel overly anxious and guilty about circumstances over which they had no control. Such a person may experience high levels of stress and inhibition that keeps them from living well. The id is inborn, but the ego and superego develop during the course of our early interactions with others. These interactions occur against a backdrop of learning to resolve early biological and social challenges and play a key role in our personality development.
         3. Psychosexual Stages

            Annotations:

            • For about the first year of life, the infant is in the oral stage of psychosexual development. The infant meets needs primarily through oral gratification. A baby wishes to suck or chew on any object that comes close to the mouth. Babies explore the world through the mouth and find comfort and stimulation as well. Psychologically, the infant is all id. The infant seeks immediate gratification of needs such as comfort, warmth, food, and stimulation. If the caregiver meets oral needs consistently, the child will move away from this stage and progress further. However, if the caregiver is inconsistent or neglectful, the person may stay stuck in the oral stage. As an adult, the person might not feel good unless involved in some oral activity such as eating, drinking, smoking, nail biting, or compulsive talking. These actions bring comfort and security when the person feels insecure, afraid, or bored. During the anal stage , which coincides with toddlerhood or mobility and potty training, the child is taught that some urges must be contained and some actions postponed. There are rules about certain functions and when and where they are to be carried out. The child is learning a sense of self-control. The ego is being developed. If the caregiver is extremely controlling about potty training (stands over the child waiting for the smallest indication that the child might need to go to the potty and immediately scoops the child up and places him on the potty chair, for example), the child may grow up fearing losing control. He may become fixated in this stage or “anal retentive,” that is, fearful of letting go. Such a person might be extremely neat and clean, organized, reliable, and controlling of others. If the caregiver neglects to teach the child to control urges, he may grow up to be “anal expulsive” or an adult who is messy, irresponsible, and disorganized. The phallic stage occurs during the preschool years (ages 3–5) when the child has a new biological challenge to face. Freud believed that the child becomes sexually attracted to his or her opposite sexed parent. Boys experience the “Oedipal Complex” in which they become sexually attracted to their mothers but realize that Father is in the way. He is much more powerful. For a while, the boy fears that if he pursues his mother, father may castrate him (castration anxiety). So rather than risking losing his penis, he gives up his affections for his mother and instead learns to become more like his father, imitating his actions and mannerisms and thereby learns the role of males in his society. From this experience, the boy learns a sense of masculinity. He also learns what society thinks he should do and experiences guilt if he does not comply. In this way, the superego develops. If he does not resolve this successfully, he may become a “phallic male” or a man who constantly tries to prove his masculinity (about which he is insecure) by seducing women and beating up men.Girls experience the “Electra Complex” in which she develops an attraction for her father but realizes that she cannot compete with mother and so gives up that affection and learns to become more like her mother. This is not without some regret, however. Freud believed that the girl feels inferior because she does not have a penis (experiences “penis envy”). But she must resign herself to the fact that she is female and will just have to learn her inferior role in society as a female. However, if she does not resolve this conflict successfully, she may have a weak sense of femininity and grow up to be a “castrating female” who tries to compete with men in the workplace or in other areas of life. During middle childhood (6–11), the child enters the latent stage focusing his or her attention outside the family and toward friendships. The biological drives are temporarily quieted (latent) and the child can direct attention to a larger world of friends. If the child is able to make friends, he or she will gain a sense of confidence. If not, the child may continue to be a loner or shy away from others, even as an adult. The final stage of psychosexual development is referred to as the genital stage . From adolescence throughout adulthood a person is preoccupied with sex and reproduction. The adolescent experiences rising hormone levels and the sex drive and hunger drives become very strong. Ideally, the adolescent will rely on the ego to help think logically through these urges without taking actions that might be damaging. An adolescent might learn to redirect his or her sexual urges into safer activity, such as running. Quieting the id with the superego can lead to feeling overly self-conscious and guilty about these urges. Hopefully, it is the ego that is strengthened during this stage and the adolescent uses reason to manage urges.
   2. Psychosocial Theory

      Annotations:

      • He believed that we are aware of what motivates us throughout life and the ego has greater importance in guiding our actions than does the id. We make conscious choices in life and these choices focus on meeting certain social and cultural needs rather than purely biological ones. Humans are motivated, for instance, by the need to feel that the world is a trustworthy place, that we are capable individuals, that we can make a contribution to society, and that we have lived a meaningful life. These are all psychosocial problems. 
      1. Psychosocial Stages
         1. Trust vs. mistrust (0–1): infant must have basic needs met in a consistent way in order to feel that the world is a trustworthy place
         2. Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (1–2): mobile toddlers have newfound freedom they like to exercise and by being allowed to do so, they learn some basic independence
         3. Initiative vs. Guilt (3–5): preschoolers like to initiate activities and emphasize doing things “all by myself”
         4. Industry vs. inferiority (6–11): school aged children focus on accomplishments and begin making comparisons between themselves and their classmates
         5. Identity vs. role confusion (adolescence): teenagers are trying to gain a sense of identity as they experiment with various roles, beliefs, and ideas
         6. Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood): in our 20s and 30s we are making some of our first long-term commitments in intimate relationships
         7. Generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood): 40s through the early 60s we focus on being productive at work and home and are motivated by wanting to feel that we’ve made a contribution to society
         8. Integrity vs. Despair (late adulthood): we look back on our lives and hope to like what we see; that we have lived well and have a sense of integrity because we lived according to our beliefs.
4. Chapter 5: Stages of Development
   1. Piaget Stages of Cognitive Development

      Annotations:

      • Sensorimotor (birth– 2 years) Preoperational (2–7 years) Concrete Operations (7–11 years) Formal Operations (12+ years)
   2. Erikson Stages of Psychosocial Development

      Annotations:

      • Trust Vs. Mistrust (birth–18 months) Autonomy Vs. Shame (18 months–3 years) Initiative Vs. Guilt (3–5 years) Industry Vs. Inferiority (5–12 years) Ego Identity Vs. Role Confusion (12–18 years) Intimacy Vs. Isolation (18–40 years) Generativity Vs. Stagnation (40–65 years) Ego Integrity Vs. Despair (65+ year)
   3. Freud Stages of Psychosexual Development

      Annotations:

      • Oral (birth–1 year) Anal (1–3 years) Phallic (3‐6 years) Latency (6–12 years) Genital (12+ years) (1)