what is your !!! THEORY

Theory
· What is the definition of a theory?

A theory is an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain and to make predictions.

· What are the qualities of a good theory?

Internally consistent, falsifiable, supported by data

· Describe Freud's 3 structures of personality.

Id-subconscious, animalistic drives; ego-demands of reality, rational component; superego-conscious, true moral center

· What is Freud's 5 stages of psychosexual development?

The oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latent stage, genital stage
· What happens if we do not complete a stage of Freud’s theory?

If we do not complete a stage, we can become fixated at that stage
· What are Piaget's 4 stages of his Cognitive Development Theory?

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operations
· What are the main ideas behind Vygotsky's socio-cultural cognitive theory?
o Children actively construct their knowledge
o Emphasizes developmental analysis, the role of language, and social relations
o Cognitive development is shaped by the sociocultural context in which it occurs and grows out of children’s interactions with members of their culture.

· What are Erikson’s 8 stages of psychosocial development?
Trust vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. identity confusion, Intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, integrity vs. despair

· How do the theories vary on issues of passivity/activity,
universality/contextuality, and continuity/discontinuity and nature/nurture?

Frued- people have passive role; depends on context: id and social demands come into conflict (ex: early experiences within the family); discontinuity- people start and stop stages at different times; emphasized nature over nurture

Piaget- constructivism: children actively construct new understandings of the world based on their experiences; all children go through same development; continuity;

Vygotsky- children actively construct their knowledge; cognitive development not the same universally, it varies across social and historical contexts

Erikson- people are active in their development
· What are the components of conditioning?

· How does classical conditioning differ from operant conditioning?
Classical conditioning- a stimulus that initially no effect on the individual comes to elicit a response through its association with a stimulus that already elicits the response
Operant conditioning- a learner’s behavior becomes either more or less probable depending on the consequences it produces
· What are the differences between Piaget’s Pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational stages?
Pre-operational- (2-7) capacity for symbolic thought but not yet capable of logical problem solving
Concrete operational- (7-11) use trial-and-error approach to problem solving and do well on problems that involve thinking about concrete objects
Formal operational stages- (11-12 and older) able to think more abstractly and hypothetically
· What are Assimilation and Accommodation?
Assimilation is incorporating new info into our existing knowledge, while accommodation is adapting one’s existing knowledge to new information. Examples;
· What are the epigenetic theory and the ethological theory of development?
Epigenetic- once a path has been started upon it is harder to change course.
Ethological- our behavior is evolutionary inspired, and the human species ha evolved to reinforce certain behaviors

What’s Bandura’s reciprocal determinism idea? How does this interact with contextual systems?
Human development occurs through a continuous reciprocal interaction among the person, his or her behavior, and his or her environment. People choose, build, and change their environments.

· What where Bronfenbrenner’s contributions to the study of development?
Systems perspective on development: the individual is embedded in and interacts with four environmental systems.

· Can you expand Vygotsky’s theory?
Each culture provides its members with certain tools of thought. The ways in which people in a particular culture approach and solve problems are passed from generation to generation through oral and written communication. Culture shapes thought. Children are social beings who develop their minds through their interactions with parents, teachers, and other knowledgeable members of their culture.

· Can you expand on the Zone of Proximal development?
It is the difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can do with help of a skilled other/
· In what ways is development multidimensional? (examples, etc.)

· How do we know which type of theory to use?

You don’t have to choose one theory and reject others. Because different theories often highlight different aspects of development, one may be more relevant to a particular issue or to a particular age group than another.

· What are some examples of qualitative /cross sectional / longitudinal designs ?
Qualitative- Do you get mad? Why?, Cross sectional- A group of 10, 13, 16, and 19 year olds to study adolescence, Longitudinal- measure person’s vocabulary at 2, 3, and 4.

Methods
· What are the key differences between experimental and correlational design?
Experimental design: allows us to address issues of causality, independent variables are manipulated, random assignment with control groups and experimental groups
Correlational design: correlation does not equal causation,

· What are the key aspects of experimental design?
Manipulation of variables, random assignment, experimental control

· What would be a good example of a case study?
Studying people with schizophrenia

· What are the pros and cons of each of the observation methods (naturalistic, structured, etc.)?
Naturalistic

Pro: the only technique that can reveal what children or adults do in everyday life

Cons: some behaviors occur too infrequently and unexpectedly to be observed in this manner, difficult to pinpoint the causes of the behavior or any developmental trends because many events are usually happening at the same time, presence of observer can sometimes make people behave differently than they otherwise would
Structured

Pro: permits the study of behaviors rarely observable in natural settings

Con: conclusions may not generalize to behavior in natural settings

· Why do ethics need to taken into consideration when conducting an experiment? Give an example of an experiment that is now considered unethical
To protect research participants from physical or psychological harm
Unethical study- study by Hubbard and colleagues (2002) in which 8-year olds were deliberately provoked to become angry after witnessing another child cheat them and win a board game unfairly

· What are the different pros and cons of different research methods?
Cross-sectional designs compare age groups but confound age effects and cohort effects. Longitudinal designs describe age change but confound age effects and time of measurement effects

· What are iatrogenic effects (definition, examples)


· What are the differences and advantages/disadvantages of longitudinal, cross sectional and cross sequential designs.

· What is the difference between correlation and causation? How do we estimate correlations?

· What is a heritability estimate?
The proportion of all the variability in the trait within a large sample of people that can be linked to genetic differences among those individuals.

· Within a situation, how much of a chance does an offspring have of getting a dominant or recessive gene from their parents?

such as "spineless Gutless Wonder..."

Dominant- 100%, recessive- 25%
· What are the differences between dominant and recessive genes?
· How do we draw a Punnet square?
· What are the three types of genotype environment interactions and how do they vary?
Passive- children receive genotypes correlated with their environment
Active- Individuals seek or create environments correlated with their genetic proclivity
Evocative- Individuals are reacted to on the basis of their genetic propensities.
· What are behavioral genetics focused on?
The study of individual differences
· What are contributions make individuals different from each other?

· What is the difference between a genotype and a phenotype?
Genotype is the combination of one’s genes, while phenotype is the observed trait of interest.
· What effect can interactions with the environment have on someone's
genotype?
The environment can either cause the genetic potentials to be realized or stifled
· What are genetic potentials? (ex: IQ)
· What are some X-linked inheritances?

· Can we go over Polygenic inheritance again?
Multiple gene pairs interacting with the environment lead to a phenotype
· What are the 3 contributors to individual differences?
Heritability/genes, shared environment, non shared environment
· Concordance and reaction ranges of genes.

Pre-natal development
· What 2 tests are given to identify at-risk infants? Describe them.
Apgar test- it assesses health at 1 and 5 minutes after birth. It evaluates infants’ heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, body color, and reflex irritability.
Brazelton neonatal exam- performed within 24-36 hours after birth to evaluate neurological development, reflexes, and reactions to people.
· What is the difference between a mutation and a teratogen?
A mutation is a change in the structure or arrangement of one or more genes that produces a new phenotype, while a teratogen is any disease, drug, or other environmental agent that can harm a developing fetus.
· What is important about the Fetal Period?
During the fetal period, limbs, bone structures, and the brain develop.
· What are the three stages of pregnancy and how do they differ?
The Germinal Period- fertilization occurs, single-celled zygote begins to divide, an inner cell mass forms
The Embryonic Period- rate of cell differentiation intensifies, support systems for the cells form, organs appear (look more human)
The Fetal Period- limbs, bone structures, and brain develop
· What specifics stages in fetal development are most affected by teratogens? And what effects do specific teratogens have?
Specific stages: during organogenesis in the embryonic period (3-8 prenatal week). Specific teratogens do not udually cause a specific birth defect.
· How are teratogens introduced to the prenatal environment?
Numerous teratogens exist, thus almost every fetus is exposed to at least some.
· What are the cell layers of the embryo and what do they do?
Endoderm- inner layer
Ectoderm- outer layer
Mesoderm-
· How does the placenta keep the blood types of a mother and baby from mixing?
The placental barrier allows the oxygen and nutrients to pass through, but it prevents the large blood cells of embryo and mother from mingling.
· Can we talk more about RH factor and +/- blood-types?


Physical Development

· What is an example of each of the 3 types of development (physical, cognitive, psychosocial).
· What are the key processes in physical development across the lifespan?
· What is myelination?
· What are the patterns of growth in the human body?
· How does our physical development related to sexual functioning?