Studying development through three approaches

• A context is explored through the three approaches — biological, cognitive and sociocultural — and the key concepts.
• The concept of change is central: development is about how behaviour changes over time.
• Much developmental evidence is correlational or observational, so causal claims need care.

Key idea: development reflects nature and nurture interacting — maturation plus experience and culture.

Cognitive development — Piaget

• Piaget proposed four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational.
• Key ideas: object permanence (sensorimotor), egocentrism and lack of conservation (preoperational), logical thought about concrete then abstract problems later.
• Children build and revise schemas through assimilation and accommodation.

Evaluation: Piaget may have underestimated young children; later research shows some abilities appear earlier than his stages imply.

Which is right?

Social, moral and language development

• Vygotsky: development is socially mediated. The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is the gap between what a child can do alone and with help; a more knowledgeable other provides scaffolding.
• Moral development: Kohlberg proposed pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional stages of moral reasoning.
• Language: nativist views (e.g. Chomsky's language acquisition device) stress an innate capacity plus a sensitive period.

Contrast: Piaget emphasised the child as a lone scientist; Vygotsky stressed culture and social interaction.

Which is right?

Attachment and the developing self

• Bowlby: infants form an attachment to a caregiver; early attachment builds an internal working model for later relationships, within a sensitive period.
• Ainsworth's Strange Situation classifies attachment as secure, insecure-avoidant or insecure-resistant.
• Attachment shapes the emerging self-concept and emotional regulation.

Nuance: attachment patterns are influenced by caregiving and child temperament, and can change with experience.

Which is right?

Enculturation, peers and childhood experiences

• Enculturation is learning the norms and values of one's own culture, shaping identity and behaviour.
• Peers increasingly influence behaviour and identity through childhood and adolescence.
• Adverse childhood experiences (deprivation, poverty) can affect development — e.g. Rutter's Romanian orphan studies showed effects of early deprivation, moderated by resilience and later care.

Concept — causality: outcomes reflect risk and protective factors, not single causes.

Which is right?

Sort each idea to its strand of development

Tap an item, then tap the group it belongs to.

Studying development rigorously

• Longitudinal designs follow the same people over time (strong for change, but risk attrition); cross-sectional designs compare age groups (quicker, but risk cohort effects).
• Measurement: developmental change is inferred from carefully designed age-appropriate tasks.
• Bias: many classic models are culturally specific (e.g. attachment norms vary), so avoid an imposed etic.

Strong causal claims about what drives development usually need experimental or well-controlled longitudinal evidence.

Which is right?

Match each researcher/term to its idea

Tap on the left, then its match on the right.

HL extension — culture, motivation and technology in development

• Culture: milestones and parenting practices vary across cultures, so 'normal' development is partly culturally defined.
• Motivation: a child's motivation and engagement (e.g. mastery vs performance goals) shapes learning and development.
• Technology: screen use and digital tools influence cognitive and social development — evidence is mixed and mostly correlational.

Which is right?

The big ideas to know

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