Learning Objectives

• LO1 What are the basic concepts of the psychodynamic

perspective?
• LO2 What are the basic concepts of the behavioral
perspective?
• LO3 What are the basic concepts of the cognitive
perspective?
• LO4 What are the basic concepts of the contextual
perspective?
• LO5 What are the basic concepts of the evolutionary
perspective?
• LO6 How would you describe the value of multiple
perspectives on child development?
Learning Objectives
• LO7 What is the scientific method, and how does it help
answer questions about child development?
• LO8 What are the major characteristics of correlational
studies?
• LO9 What are the major characteristics of experiments,
and how do they differ from correlational studies?
• LO10 How would you compare theoretical and applied
research?
• LO11 What are the major research strategies?
• LO12 What are the primary ethical principles used to
guide research?
Major Perspectives Used in Child
Development
LO1 What are the basic concepts of the
psychodynamic perspective?
The Psychodynamic Perspective: Focusing on
Internal Forces
•Behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories,
and conflicts

•Inner forces from childhood influence behavior

throughout the life span
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

• Unconscious forces act

to determine personality
and behavior

• Unconsciousness is
part of personality about
which a person is
unaware
Id, Ego, and Superego

According to Freud, everyone’s personality

has three aspects: id, ego, and superego.
Freud’s Psychosexual Development

• Proposed series of stages

• Pleasure or gratification is focused on a
particular biological function and body part
• Fixation is behavior and unresolved conflict
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
• Developmental change
occurs throughout life in
eight distinct, universal
stages
• Each stage presents a
crisis or conflict that the
individual must at least
address or resolve
• Development is
relatively complete by
adolescence
Assessing the Psychodynamic Perspective

• Freud • Erikson
– Freud’s introduction – Erikson’s view that
that unconscious development
influences affect continues throughout
behavior was the life span is
significant. important.
– Some of the most – Erikson’s theory is
basic principles of vague and difficult to
Freud’s theory have scientifically validate.
been called into
question because they
lack research validity.
Freud’s and Erikson’s Theories (1 of 2)
Freud’s and Erikson’s Theories (2 of 2)
LO2 What are the basic concepts of the behavioral
perspective?

The Behavioral Perspective: Focusing on

Observable Behavior
•Keys to understanding development are observable
behavior and outside environmental stimuli
•Notion that people universally pass through series
of stages rejected
•Developmental change viewed in quantitative,
rather than qualitative, terms
Watson’s Classical Conditioning
• All individual
differences in behavior
were due to different
experiences of learning
(classical conditioning)
• Organism responds in
a particular way to a
neutral stimulus that
normally does not bring
about that type of
response.
Operant Conditioning: B.F. Skinner
• Skinner was influenced
by Thorndyke (Law of
Effect)
• Children operate on
their environments to
bring about a desired
state of affairs
• Learning occurs
through rewards and
punishments for
behavior
Operant Conditioning

Skinner distinguished between two types of

behavior.
Social-Cognitive Learning Theory: Learning
Through Imitation
• Incorporates many basic concepts of traditional
learning theory
• Emphasizes learning by observing the behavior
of another person (model)
• Suggests learning occurs in four steps
Social-Cognitive Learning Theory: Bandura

Learning occurs in four steps.

•Paying attention and perceiving the most critical
features of a model’s behavior
•Successfully recalling the behavior
•Reproducing the behavior accurately
•Being motivated to learn and carry out the
behavior
Assessing the Behavioral Perspective

• What were some of the contributions made by

Watson and Skinner?

• How has their research influenced what we

understand about behavior?

• What are the drawbacks and controversies

associated with the behavioral perspective?
LO3 What are the basic concepts of the cognitive
perspective?

• Cognitive Perspective: Examining the Roots

of Understanding
– Emphasizes how people internally represent and think
about the world
• Piaget
– Human thinking is arranged into schemes
– Children’s adaptation explained by principles of
assimilation and accommodation
Piaget’s Theory of
Cognitive Development

Let’s take a closer look at each of these

principles
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Assessing Piaget’s Theory

• How is Piaget’s theory fundamentally different

from other approaches (e.g. Skinner)?

• What are the main criticisms of his theory today?

Information-Processing Approaches

• Identify the ways individuals take in, use, and

store information
• Assume that development is marked by
quantitative advances as information handling
capacity, processing speed, and efficiency
increase with age
Information-Processing Approaches

Neo-Piagetian theory
•Uses information-processing approach that builds
on Piagetian research
•Considers composition of cognition of different
types of individual skills
•Suggests cognition proceeds more quickly in
certain areas and more slowly in others
Assessing Information-Processing
Approaches
These approaches
•Provide crucial part of current understanding of
development
•Do not offer complete explanation for behavior or
consider social context in which development
occurs
Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches

• Focus specifically on neurological activity that

underlies thinking, problem solving, and other
cognitive behavior
• Seek to identify locations and brain functions
related to different cognitive activities
• Provide clues to cause of autism spectrum
disorder
• Identify specific genes associated with range of
disorders
Neuroscientists found evidence that the brains of children with
autism spectrum disorder are somewhat larger than those of
children without the disorder. This finding might help identify
cases of autism spectrum disorder early, allowing for more
effective intervention and treatment.
Assessing Cognitive Neuroscience
Approaches
Cognitive neuroscience approaches
•Use sophisticated measurement techniques to
understand inner brain functioning
•Provide insight into normal and abnormal
development and suggested treatment
•May provide better description than explanation of
developmental phenomena
LO4 What are the basic concepts of the contextual
perspective?

The Contextual Perspective considers

relationship between individuals and their worlds:
– Physical
– Cognitive
– Personality
– Social
The Bioecological Approach to Development

• Proposes five levels

of environment that
simultaneously
influence individuals
Influence of Culture
Assessing the Bioecological Approach

• Approach is important to child development,

suggesting multiple levels at which environment
affects children’s development.
• Some critics argue insufficient attention to
biological factors.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Sociocultural Theory
• Vygotsky emphasized how cognitive
development proceeds as result of social
interactions between members of a culture.
Assessing Vygotsky’s Theory
• Theory is increasingly influential with growing
understanding of important of cultural influence
on development.
LO5 What are the basic concepts of the evolutionary
perspective?

Evolutionary Perspective
•Seeks to identify behavior that is the result of our
genetic inheritance from our ancestors
•Focuses on the way in which genetics and
environmental factors combine to influence behavior
Assessing Evolutionary Perspective
•Provides accurate description of basic genetic
processes
•Pays insufficient attention to environmental and social
influences on behavior
The Scientific Method and Research

Scientific method
•Process of posing and answering questions
•Using careful, controlled techniques
•Includes systematic, orderly observation and the
collection of data
LO7 What is the scientific method, and how does it help
answer questions about child development?

Hypotheses: Specifying Testable Predictions

– Prediction stated in testable way
– Needed to determine validity of a theory
• Operationalization
– Translation of a hypothesis into specific, testable
procedures that can be measured and observed.
• Correlational Research
– Seeks to identify whether an association or
relationship between two factors exists.
The Scientific Method

A cornerstone of research, the scientific method is used

by psychologists as well as researchers from all other
scientific disciplines.
Choosing a Research Strategy: Answering
Questions
Experimental research
• Designed to discover causal relationships
between various factors
• Change deliberately introduced in carefully
structured situation to see consequences of that
change
LO8 What are the major characteristics of correlational
studies?

Correlational Studies
• Finding that two variables are correlated proves
nothing about causality!

Correlation Coefficient
• Strength and direction of relationship between
two factors
• Mathematical score that ranges
from +1.0 to –1.0
Finding a Correlation
Types of Correlational Studies

There are several types of correlational studies

•Naturalistic observation is the observation of a
naturally occurring behavior without intervention in
the situation.
•Ethnography is a method borrowed from the field
of anthropology and used to investigate cultural
questions
Types of Correlational Studies

Case Studies
•Extensive, in-depth interviews with a particular
individual or small group of individuals
Survey Research
•Research in which a group of people chosen to
represent some larger population is asked
questions about their attitudes, behavior, or
thinking on a given topic
Psychophysiological Methods
Among the most
frequently used
psychophysiological
methods:
•Electroencephalogram
(EEG).
•Computerized Axial
Tomography (CAT) Scan.
•Functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging
(fMRI) Scan.
A functional magnetic resonance
image (fMRI) of the brain shows rain
activity at a given moment.
LO9 What are the major characteristics of experiments,
Designing an Experiment
and how do they differ from correlational studies?

In an experiment, an investigator, called an

experimenter, typically devises two different
experiences for participants, or subjects.
Designing an Experiment

Variables are measurable

characteristics that change.
Random Assignment

• Random assignment is a critical step in

experimental design
• Participants assigned to different treatment
groups or conditions strictly on basis of chance
Choosing a Research Setting

• Sample: Group of participants chosen for

experiment
• Field study: Research investigation carried out
in naturally occurring setting
• Laboratory study: Research investigation
conducted in controlled setting explicitly
designed to hold events constant
LO10 How would you compare theoretical and applied
research?

• Theoretical and Applied Research:

Complementary Approaches
– Theoretical research is designed specifically to test
some developmental explanation and expand
scientific knowledge.
– Applied research is meant to provide practical
solutions to immediate problems.
How Can Developmental Research Improve
Public Policy?
• Determining what questions need to be asked
• Participating in process by which laws are
drafted
• Determining how best to implement programs
• Evaluating effectiveness of existing programs
and policies
LO11 What are the major research strategies?
Research Techniques for Studying
Development
Critically Evaluating Developmental
Research
Questions to Consider
•Is the study grounded in theory?
•Is the research isolated or part of series of
investigations?
•Can results be generalized beyond the
participants?
•What the study carried out appropriately?
•Were the participants studied long enough to
draw reasonable developmental implications?
LO12 What are the primary ethical principles used to
guide research?

Ethics and research

•Researchers must protect participants from
physical and psychological harm.
•Researchers must obtain informed consent from
participants before their involvement in a study.
•The use of deception in research must be justified
and cause no harm.
•Participants’ privacy must be maintained.