parsimony

criterion for evaluating the scientific merit of theories; one that uses relatively few explanatory principles to explain a broad set of observations

Falsifiability

 when a theory is capable of generating predictions that could be disconfirmed

heurisitc value

when a theory continues to stimulate new research and discoveries

nature/nurture issue

active/passive issue

a debate among developmental theorists about whether children are active contributors to thei rown development or, rather, passive recipients of environmental influence

continuity/discontinuity

a debate among theorists about whether developmental changes are quantitative and continuours, or qualitative and discontinuous

quantitative changes

 changes in degree or amount

qualitative changes

changes in form or kind - make the individual fundamentally different in some way than her or she was earlier

developmental stages

according to discontinuity theorists

distinct phase within a larger sequence of development; charactarized by a particular set of abilities, motives, behaviours, or emotions that occur together and form a coherent pattern. 

Psychosexual theory

- sigmund freud

- states that maturation of the sex instinct underlies stages of personality development, and that the manner in which parents manage children's instinctual impulses determines the traits that children display

unconscious motives

freud's term for feelings experiences, and conflicts that influence a person's thinking and behaviour, but lie outside the person's awareness

repression

a type of motivated forgetting in which anxiety-provoking thoughts and conflicts are forced out of conscious awareness

instinct

inborn biological force that motivates a particular response or class of responses

Id

-present at birht

- sole function is to satisfy inborn biological instincts, and it will try to do so immediatly

Ego

conscious, rational component of the personality that reflects the child's emerging abilities to perceive, learn, remember, and reason. 

Superego

seat of the conscience

develops between 3-6

internalization of the moral values and standards of parents. 

fixation

arrested development at a particular psychosexual stage that can prevent movement to higher stages

Oral stage

birth - 1 year

sex instinct center around the mouth (Sucking, chewing, biting)

crave close contact

anal stage

1 - 3 years

voluntary urination and defecation become the primary methods of gratifying sex instincts

potty-training stage

phallic stage

3 - 6 years

pleasure now derived from genital stimulation

incestuous desire for the opposite-sex parent

latency stage

6 - 11 years

traumas of the phallic stage cause sexual conflicts to be repressed and sexual urges to be rechannelled into schoolwork and vigorous play

genital stage

12 onward

puberty triggers a reawake ning of sexual urges

if development has been healthy, the mature sex instinct is satisfied by marriage and raising children

Erik Erikson

Neo-Freudian

psychosocial theory

stressed that children are active curious explorers

psychosocial theory

 revision of freud's psychosexual theory that emphasizes sociocultural determinants of development and posits a series of eight psychosocial conflicts that people must resolve succesfully to display healthy psychological adjustments

(descriptive)

Trust vs. Mistrust

birth - 1

infant must learn to trust others to care for their basic needs. 

the primary caregiver is the key social agent

(oral stage)

autonomy vs. shame and doubt

1 - 3 years

children must learn to be "autonomous" - to feed and dress themselves, to look after their own hygiene

parents are the key social agents

(anal stage)

initiative vs. guilt

3-6 years

children attempt to act grown up and will try to accept responsibilities that are ebyong their capacity to handle

(phallic stage)

industry vs. inferiority

6-12 years

children must master important social and academic skills

(latency stage) 

identity vs. role confusion

12-20 years

crossroad between childhood and maturity

question "Who Am I"

intimacy vs. isolation

20-40 years

primary task is to form strong friendships and to achieve a sense of love and companionship with another person

Generativity vs. stagnation

 40 - 65 years 

adults face the tasks of becoming productive in their stangation work and raising their families or otherwise looking after the needs of young people

ego integrity vs. despair

old age

looking back at life, viewing it as either a meaningful, productive, and happy experience or a major disappointment full of unfulfilled promises and unrealized goals

John B. Watson

behaviourism

Behaviourism

conclusions about human development should be based on controlled observations of overt behaviour rather than speculation about unconsicous motives or other unobservable phenomena; the philosophical underpinning for the early theories of learning

habits

well-learned associations between stimuli and responses that represent the stable aspects of one's personality