Historical and conceptual issues in developmental psychology

Historical and conceptual issues in developmental psychology

1. Nature Vs Nurture Debate

   • Plato 4th C- People are born with innate knowledge (nature). Aristotle 4th C: Knowledge comes from experience (nurture). John Locke (16-17th C): saw the child as a tabula rasa (nurture) Roussseau 18th C: Noble savages learning emerges from spontaneous interactions with objects and people (nurture). Freud 20th C- concluded that biological drives exerted a crucial influence on development (nature)
     • Watson, 1930 (nurture): Believes genetic pre-disposition is unimportant- it is the environment the child si raised in.
       • The process of classical conditioning explains all aspects of human psychology. He also believes all human differences were due to different experiences in learning.
   • Twin studies: Compare development of monozigotic or dizigotic twins raised apart from birth by different parents vs. the monozigotic or dizigotic twins raised by the same parents.
   • Adopted Romanian orphans (Rutter et al)2004: -Compared Romanian orphans adopted by British parents vs British orphans adopted by British parents. Studied from adoption until 6.
     • -144 Romanian orphans adopted into uk families 1990-1992: 45 placed under 6 months, 54 places between 6-24 months and 45 places 24-42 months. Comparison group - 52 UK children before 6 months.

2. Historical overview: Binet Study of child development began around end of 19th century

   • - Binet started investigating children's intelligence and developing standardised tests 1900
   • Commisioned to identify students who needed educational assistance
   • concept of a mental age
   • Now stanford-Binet test- Intelligence Quotient (IQ): Test five factors of cognitive ability: - Fluid Reasoning- Knowledge, Quantitative Reasoning, Visual-Spatial Processing and Working memory. Each of these factors is tested in two separate domains, verbal and nonverbal.

3. Pavlov

   • Behaviourism: All behaviour is learned= nurture
   • Pavlov's dogs (1890-1930s)- conditioning
   • Watson and Rayner (1920) showed that classical conditioning applied to humans as well as animals in Litlle Albert experiment.

4. Bowlby's Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis (1950s)

   • Explained social, linguistic, and cognitive impairments in orphanages due to lack of emotional warmth. 'Failure to thrive'
   • Ebidence from Harlow's Monkeys- 1960s
   • Critical period for attachment formation- birth to 3 years.

5. Bandura - Social learning theory- Bobo doll experiment

   • Children learn by watching others=nurture
   • Applied aspects: Still used in debates about children watching videos, playing violent computer games etc.
   • Children's behaviour changes as soon as they attend nursery etc, once they begin imitationg other children araround them.

6. Recent influences :

   • Jean Piaget (1920s-70s): Piaget's stage theories of cognitive development - The child is born with structures ready to absorb knowledge
   • Lev Vygotsky (1920s.30s) - Vygotsky's socioculture theory of cognitive development - The child develops understanding through his/her interaction with the world