Core Concepts in Developmental and Learning Psychology: Study Guide

Human Development and Lifespan Psychology

Stages and Theories of Development

Human development encompasses the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes that occur throughout the lifespan. Several key theories and concepts are central to understanding this process.

• Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development: Divided into preconventional, conventional, and postconventional levels, each representing different approaches to moral reasoning.

• Kübler-Ross Stages of Dying: Five stages—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—describe emotional responses to terminal illness.

• Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development: Four stages—sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational—outline how children's thinking evolves.

• Puberty: A period of rapid physical and hormonal changes marking the transition from childhood to adolescence. Additional info: According to most textbooks, puberty typically begins between ages 8-14 in girls and 10-16 in boys.

• Scaffolding: A teaching method where support is gradually removed as learners gain independence.

• Temperaments: Refers to individual differences in emotional reactivity and self-regulation, often classified as easy, difficult, or slow-to-warm-up.

Attachment and Social Development

Attachment theory explores the bonds formed between infants and caregivers, which influence later social and emotional development.

• Ainsworth's "Strange Situation": An experimental procedure to assess attachment styles in infants, such as secure, avoidant, and ambivalent.

• Newborn Reflexes: Innate responses present at birth, including rooting, sucking, and grasping.

• Monozygotic vs. Dizygotic Twins: Monozygotic (identical) twins share all genes, while dizygotic (fraternal) twins share about 50%.

• Behavior Genetics: The study of genetic and environmental influences on behavior, including concepts of dominant and recessive traits.

• Nature vs. Nurture: The debate over the relative contributions of genetics (nature) and environment (nurture) to development.

Learning Theories and Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus, eliciting a conditioned response.

• Key Terms:

  • UCS (Unconditioned Stimulus): Naturally elicits a response.

  • UCR (Unconditioned Response): Natural reaction to UCS.

  • CS (Conditioned Stimulus): Previously neutral, now elicits response after association.

  • CR (Conditioned Response): Learned response to CS.

  • CER (Conditioned Emotional Response): Emotional reaction learned through conditioning.

• Watson: Pioneered classical conditioning in humans, notably with the "Little Albert" experiment.

• Stimulus Generalization: Responding similarly to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus.

• Stimulus Discrimination: Learning to respond only to the specific conditioned stimulus.

• Extinction: The weakening of a conditioned response when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS.

• Spontaneous Recovery: The reappearance of a previously extinguished response after a rest period.

• Counterconditioning: Replacing an unwanted response with a desired one.

• Conditioned Taste Aversions: Learning to avoid a food after a negative experience.

• Higher-Order Conditioning: When a CS is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second CS.

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning involves learning through consequences, such as rewards and punishments.

• Positive Reinforcement: Adding a desirable stimulus to increase behavior.

• Negative Reinforcement: Removing an aversive stimulus to increase behavior.

• Positive Punishment: Adding an aversive stimulus to decrease behavior.

• Negative Punishment: Removing a desirable stimulus to decrease behavior.

• Instinctive Drift: The tendency for animals to revert to instinctual behaviors despite conditioning.

• Behavior Modification: The use of operant conditioning techniques to change behavior.

• Vicarious Conditioning: Learning by observing others' experiences.

Memory and Information Processing

Stages and Types of Memory

Memory is the process by which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. It is often conceptualized in terms of stages and types.

• Encoding: The process of transforming information into a form that can be stored.

• Storage: Maintaining encoded information over time.

• Retrieval: Accessing stored information when needed.

• Information Processing Model: Compares human memory to computer operations.

• Sensory Memory: Briefly holds sensory information (iconic for visual, echoic for auditory).

• Short-Term Memory (STM): Holds information temporarily; capacity is limited.

• Long-Term Memory (LTM): Stores information for extended periods.

• Chunking: Grouping information into meaningful units to enhance STM capacity.

• Miller's "Magic Number": STM can hold about 7 ± 2 items.

• Selective Attention: Focusing on specific stimuli while ignoring others.

• Serial Position Effect: Tendency to recall first and last items in a list better than middle items.

Social Psychology Concepts

Social Influence and Audience Effects

Social psychology examines how individuals are influenced by others and the presence of an audience.

• The Personal Fable: Adolescents' belief in their own uniqueness and invulnerability.

• The Imaginary Audience: Adolescents' belief that others are constantly watching and evaluating them.

Learning Theory: Tolman

Tolman's Learning Theory

Edward Tolman proposed that learning involves the acquisition of cognitive maps, emphasizing the role of mental processes in understanding spatial environments.

• Cognitive Maps: Mental representations of physical locations.

• Latent Learning: Learning that occurs without immediate reinforcement and is not demonstrated until there is motivation.

Table: Types of Reinforcement and Punishment

This table summarizes the main types of reinforcement and punishment in operant conditioning.

Type	Description	Effect on Behavior
Positive Reinforcement	Adding a pleasant stimulus	Increases behavior
Negative Reinforcement	Removing an unpleasant stimulus	Increases behavior
Positive Punishment	Adding an unpleasant stimulus	Decreases behavior
Negative Punishment	Removing a pleasant stimulus	Decreases behavior

Key Equations and Numbers

• Miller's Magic Number: $7 \pm 2$

Additional Info

• Most likely time for a miscarriage: During the first 12 weeks (first trimester).

• Senses most/least functional at birth: Most functional: touch; least functional: vision.