PSY 2105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Parenting Styles, Social Cognition, Observational Learning
Document Summary
The dominant theme in evolutionary approaches to the developmental process is the impact of biological factors. Parents (and mothers in particular) are believed to be biologically primed for caregiving, since survival of their young will ensure survival of the parental genes. Peer relations are also presumed to have a biological foundation; the example of dominance hierarchies suggests genetically given aggression control mechanisms. Environmental/learning theorists focus on basic principles of learning in the socialization process. Initially, learning theorists stressed reinforcement and punishment but more recent work has emphasized observational learning. Parents are models; children observe and then imitate parental behaviours. The situation is similar with peers. peers have many means of rewarding or punishing (sharing, criticism, ostracism) and also serve as models of acceptable behaviours. Peers become increasingly potent influences as time spent in their company increases. Recently cognitive developmental theorists have been exploring the impact on parenting practices of parental beliefs about children.