Psychology 2040A/B Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Ecological Systems Theory, Critical Role, Social Learning Theory

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2040A/B
• Professor: Samantha Goldsmith

Document Summary

Psychology 2040a chapter 1: themes and theories. Is development continuous or discontinuous: development can be viewed as a continuous process in which new attainments in thinking, language, and social behaviour are characterized by gradual, steady, small, quantitative advances, some theories see development as discontinuous. They explain development in terms of the (cid:272)hild"s progress through a series of stages, or periods duri(cid:374)g (cid:449)hi(cid:272)h i(cid:374)(cid:374)o(cid:448)ati(cid:448)e developmental accomplishments abruptly surface. Five major themes in developmental psychology: nature/nurtue; sociocultural influence; continuity/discontinuity; interaction among domains; risk/resilience. Learning theory approaches: learning theorists study how principles of learning cause the individual to change and develop, learning: relatively permanent changes in behaviour as a result of such experiences as exploration, observation, and practice. Interaction among domains behaviour analysts explain development in all domains in terms of the basic principles of learning, social cognitive theorists stress that learning is li(cid:374)ked to the (cid:272)hild"s physi(cid:272)al, (cid:272)og(cid:374)iti(cid:448)e, a(cid:374)d so(cid:272)ial de(cid:448)elop(cid:373)e(cid:374)t.