PSY210H1 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Memory, Child Development, Toy
PSY210H1
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Outlines are for personal use only. Please do not distribute.
Lecture 1 Outline
Developmental Psychology = the scientific study of changes or continuities in an
organism between initial conception and death
Child Development: ‘a field of study that seeks to account for the gradual evolution of
the child’s cognitive, social, and other capacities first by describing changes in the child’s
observed behaviours and then by uncovering the processes and strategies that underlie
these changes’ (PGS 4)
What is the difference between basic and applied research?
Basic research seeks to understand development for the sake of science
Applied research has a clear practical application
Major Themes in child development
Nature vs. Nurture
Continuity vs. Discontinuity
Active vs. Passive
Development in different domains is connected
Nature vs. Nurture
Nativist: emphasizes the role of nature (or innate factors) in development
Empiricist: emphasizes the role of nurture (or the environment) in development
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Continuity vs. Discontinuity
Continuous
•Each new event builds on earlier experiences
•Development is a smooth and gradual accumulation of abilities
•Predictable
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Discontinuous/ stage-like
•Abrupt changes in ability
•Development is a series of discrete steps or stages in which behavior get
reorganized into a qualitatively new set of behaviors
•Unpredictable
Active vs. Passive
Are children simply at the mercy of their environment or do they actively
influence their own development through their unique individual characteristics?
What is a developmental theory?
An organized set of ideas that is designed to explain development
Theories generate testable hypotheses or predictions to explain development
Theoretical approaches to development
1) Biological
•Maturational (Gesell)
•Ethological (Lorenz)
2) Psychodynamic
•Psychodynamic (Freud)
•Psychosocial (Erikson)
3) Learning
•Behaviourism (Pavlov, Skinner, Watson)
•Social Cognitive Learning (Bandura)
4) Cognitive-Developmental
•Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
5) Contextual
•Vygotsky’s Theory of Contextual Development
Scientific Method
Use of objective and replicable methods to gather data for the purpose of testing a
theory or hypothesis
•Identify a question of interest
•Form a hypothesis (potential answer)
•Select method for collecting data to test hypothesis
Systematic Observation
Naturalistic Observation
•Children are observed as they behave spontaneously in real-life situations
(pg 24)
Structured Observation
•The researcher creates a setting likely to elicit the behavior of interest (pg
24)
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find more resources at oneclass.com