Deck 9: Section 1: Theories of Social Development

Question 1

Imagine that a teacher is having trouble getting his students to stop playing and start working when recess is over. How could learning theories help him change his students' behaviour?

Answer 1

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Question 2

Write a brief article for a parenting magazine about what parents can do to help their children successfully resolve the crucial conflict in each of the first five developmental stages proposed by Erikson.

Answer 2

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Question 3

Describe the phenomenon of imprinting. Why is this behaviour so interesting to ethological theorists?

Answer 3

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Question 4

Describe the principles of systematic desensitization and behaviour modification. On what theory or theories are they founded? How are the two approaches similar, and how are they different?

Question 5

Describe the three personality structures theorized by Freud. Explain the "job" of each structure, as well as the developmental stage during which each structure develops.

Question 6

Describe the basic principles of Albert Bandura's "social learning theory." How does his view differ from that of traditional learning theorists? How is it the same?

Question 7

Imagine that a teacher is interested in designing an intervention to decrease aggression in children who tend to behave aggressively. Using Dodge's theory of social problem solving, describe what the focus of the teacher's intervention would be and why. Be specific and give examples where necessary.

Question 8

Describe the associations between Selman's stages of role taking and Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Give examples of the role-taking ability and the level of cognitive development typical of two particular ages to illustrate the associations between the two stage theories.

Question 9

Contemporary developmental psychologists differ in their levels of agreement with Freud's and Erikson's psychoanalytic theories. Describe two aspects of one or both of these theories that you believe to be correct and that you find useful for understanding development. Describe two aspects of the theories that you believe to be incorrect or not helpful for understanding development. Be specific, and give examples to support your position.

Question 10

What causes some children to be pleasant and kind and others to be mean and selfish? Choose three of the theories discussed in the chapter (psychoanalytic, learning, social cognition, ecological) and describe how each theory might account for individual differences in these personality characteristics. Be specific.

Question 11

To what extent do Freud's and Erikson's theories consider development discontinuous, and to what extent do they consider development continuous? Provide at least one example of a way in which these theorists posit development as discontinuous and at least one example of a way in which they posit development as continuous.

Question 12

Describe the importance of play from the perspective of evolutionary psychology. Be sure to explain why, according to this perspective, play would not be as important for other animal species as it is for humans. Provide examples to support the argument.

Question 13

Describe the principle of intermittent reinforcement. Why does it make the behaviour so difficult to extinguish?

Question 14

Describe Freud's perspective on what happens if a child's fundamental needs are not met during a particular stage. Give an example. Then describe Erikson's perspective on what happens if an individual does not successfully resolve the conflict of a particular stage. Give an example. How are the views of Freud and Erikson on these issues similar, and how are they different?

Question 15

What is Kismet? Explain why scientists designed Kismet and what they hoped they would learn from the project.

Question 16

Do you think you have a helpless pattern of motivation or a mastery-oriented pattern of motivation? Describe the cognitions, emotions, and behaviours that lead you to label yourself this way. What factors do you think led you to develop this type of achievement orientation? In what ways has this orientation helped or hindered you? If your orientation is unhealthy, discuss what you could do to try to move toward a healthier orientation.

Question 17

Choose three of the theories discussed in the chapter and describe how each theory views the child in terms of the extent to which the child plays an active role in his or her own development. Be specific, and provide at least one supportive example for each theory.

Question 18

Describe the behaviour modification technique of "time out," identify on what theory this approach is based, and indicate when and how it is used. Do you believe it is an effective strategy? Why or why not? Would you use it with your own children? Why or why not?

Question 19

Describe the conflict that characterizes each of the first five stages of Erikson's theory. For each stage, describe what a successful resolution is as well as what an unsuccessful resolution is.

Question 20

Describe the concept of infantile amnesia and explain how Freud believes it develops. Be specific. Do you agree with Freud's explanation? Explain why or why not, and provide at least one example to support your opinion.

Question 21

Imagine that you are at a cocktail party and you overhear someone arguing that violence in the media teaches children that violence is bad and that we should not worry about children being exposed to it. Would you agree or disagree with this cocktail party guest? Explain why you would agree or disagree, and provide at least three detailed examples to support your argument.

Question 22

Imagine that a health care educator is interested in obtaining a grant to run an intervention program to prevent child maltreatment for parents who are at-risk for maltreating their children. Write a brief summary of the research on the consequences of maltreatment for children's development and describe how the educator would choose parents for the intervention.

Question 23

Manish, a preschooler, has recently become unhappy and withdrawn. Think about what factors might be causing this change in emotional state and describe an example of a factor from each level of Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model.