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Development and Learning in Psychology

Feb 12, 2025

Lecture Notes: Development and Learning in AP Psychology

Introduction

  • Presented by Tim Stadman
  • Focus on Unit 3: Development and Learning
  • Emphasis on how we grow and learn throughout our lives

Developmental Psychology

  • Studies changes in physical, mental, and social aspects throughout life.

Key Themes

  • Nature vs. Nurture: Interaction between genetics and environment.
  • Stability vs. Change: Consistency and evolution of personality over time.
  • Continuity vs. Discontinuity: Debate between gradual development vs. distinct stages.

Research Methods

  • Longitudinal Research: Follows the same group over time. Pros: detailed development insights. Cons: Time-consuming, expensive.
  • Cross-Sectional Research: Compares different age groups at one point in time. Pros: Quicker, less costly. Cons: Cohort effect, doesn’t show individual changes.

Physical Development

Prenatal Development

  • Influenced by teratogens, maternal illness, hormonal and environmental factors.
  • Importance of healthy prenatal environment.

Early Childhood

  • Development of fine and gross motor skills.
  • Infant reflexes: rooting and sucking.
  • Visual Cliff Experiment: Studies depth perception.

Adolescence

  • Marked by puberty, growth spurts, development of primary and secondary sex characteristics.
  • Milestones: Menarche and spermarche.

Adulthood

  • Gradual decline in physical abilities.
  • Menopause in women.

Gender and Sexual Orientation

  • Gender: Social roles and cultural expectations.
  • Sex: Biological differences.
  • Gender schema and gender role stereotypes.

Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget’s Theory

  • Schemas: Mental frameworks.
  • Assimilation and Accommodation: Ways of incorporating new information.
  • Stages of Cognitive Development:
    • Sensorimotor (0-2 years): Object permanence.
    • Pre-operational (2-7 years): Symbolic thinking, egocentrism, animism.
    • Concrete Operational (7-11 years): Logical thinking develops.
    • Formal Operational (12+ years): Abstract thinking.

Lev Vygotsky’s Theory

  • Emphasizes social and cultural influences.
  • Zone of Proximal Development: Tasks achievable with guidance.
  • Scaffolding: Supportive teaching.

Intelligence

  • Crystallized Intelligence: Knowledge accumulation, increases with age.
  • Fluid Intelligence: Problem-solving, peaks in early adulthood.

Language Development

  • Stages: Cooing, babbling, one-word, telegraphic speech.
  • Grammar and syntax development.

Social Emotional Development

Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner)

  • Layers of influence: Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem, Chronosystem.

Parenting Styles

  • Authoritarian: Strict, high expectations.
  • Authoritative: Balanced, supportive.
  • Permissive: Indulgent or indifferent.

Attachment Styles

  • Secure: Trust, emotional bonds.
  • Insecure: Avoidant, anxious, disorganized.

Psychosocial Development (Erikson)

  • Stages of conflict from infancy through old age.

Learning Theories

Classical Conditioning

  • Basics: Unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response.
  • Concepts: Extinction, spontaneous recovery, discrimination, generalization.

Operant Conditioning

  • Reinforcement: Positive and negative.
  • Punishment: Positive and negative.
  • Schedules of Reinforcement: Fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval.

Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura)

  • Observational learning, modeling.
  • Bobo Doll experiment: Demonstrated imitation of aggressive behavior.

Conclusion

  • Comprehensive review of developmental and learning theories.
  • Encouragement to use review guides and practice questions for mastery.

Full transcript