We study human development to understand, explain, predict and control behavior. Theory is a "set of hypotheses or assumptions about behavior". Theories give us a foundation in human development and help to explain behavior. Our own personal theories may not be based on facts where formal scientific theories have evidence to back up the theory and the theory has been tested.
2. What is Bronfenbrenner's "ecology of human development?" List and discuss Bronfenbrenner's original four nested systems of the ecological environment. Describe the recent theoretical revisions in Bronfenbrenner's theory that focus on the chronosystem.
Bronfenbrenner's ecology of human development is " the scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodation between an active, growing human being and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which developing person lives, as this process is affected by relations between these settings, and by the larger contexts in which the settings are embedded". The original four nested systems are the microsystem, which is the child and their immediate environment, the mesosystem, which recognizes that the microsystems are not independent, the exosystem, which is beyond the child's immediate environment, and the macrosystem, which are the attitudes and values of the culture. The fifth nested system that was not mentioned from Bronfenbrenner himself is the chronosystem. The chronosystem is time and sociohistorical conditions.
3. Compare Super and Harkness's developmental niche model with Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological approach. What are the three components of the developmental niche model? What two anthropological concepts regarding culture do Super and Harkness believe to be critical to the understanding of behavior within context?
The three components of the developmental niche are 1. the physical and social settings or contexts of everyday life, 2. the culturally determined customs of child care and childrearing, and 3. the psychology of the caretakers or characteristics of a child's parents. The two anthropological concepts that are critical to the understanding of behavior within context is the immediacy of culture and its integrating nature.
4. List and discuss Piaget's four stages of cognitive development and explain how the major concepts, including scheme, assimilation, accommodation, and adaptation apply to cognitive changes in each stage.
The first stage of cognitive development is the sensorimotor period. This period is characterized by the coordination of sensory abilities and motor skills. This in from birth to 2 years. The next stage is the preoperational stage. This stage is characterized by the development of language. The third stage is concrete operations and the forth stage is formal operations. Formal operations involve abstract thinking and logic. Scheme is organizing a pattern of thought in order to sense them. This is done in all stages from infancy. Assimilation is when new information is fitting into existing schemes. Accommodation is adjusting existing schemes to account for new ideas.