PSY-2210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Social Learning Theory, Oedipus Complex, Baby Boomers
Document Summary
Developmental science- a field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change throughout a lifespan. Basic issues: speculations about how people grow and change have existed for centuries, theory- an orderly, cohesive set of statements that describe, explain, and predict behavior. Theories are influenced by cultural values and belief systems. Continuous- a process of gradually amplifying the same types of skills that were there to begin with. The difference between the immature and mature being is one of amount or complexity. Discontinuous (stage development)- a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times. Infants and children have unique ways of thinking, feeling and, behaving, ways very different from adults. Stages- qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving, that characterize specific stages of development. Stage theorists assume that all people follow the same sequence of development. Contexts- unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change.
