Developmental Psychology

Achieve Test Prep: Developmental Psychology

Isolation

and learn to become intimate (emotionally). “Will I share my life with someone or be alone?” Adults attempt to create meaningful contributions to leave for future generations. “How will I contribute to society?”

individual learns how to “love,”

If the conflict is not resolved, the individual may become a “loner.” If the conflict is resolved, the individual learns how to “care.” If the conflict is not resolved, the individual may fail to leave behind anything meaningful. If the crisis is resolved, the adult will learn to feel good about their life and learn “wisdom”. If the conflict is not resolved, the adult may become depressed about having lived a meaningless life.

Middle Adulthood

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Late Adulthood

Integrity vs. Despair

Adults reflect on whether their lives have been fulfilling.

“Have I lived a full life?”

2. Behavioral Theory: Behaviorists focus on observable behavior rather than mental processes. John B. Watson was an influential behaviorist who postulated that in order for psychology to be a true science, experiments must be able to be performed. Because experiments cannot be performed on intangible objects, focus shifted to observable concrete actions. As such, behaviorism was born. Classical Conditioning : One of the facets of behaviorism is classical conditioning , which was postulated by Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was a physiologist by profession who studied digestion in dogs. Based on the common knowledge of when an individual feels hunger or thinks about food, they produce more saliva. Pavlov wanted to study saliva production in dogs when exposed to various foods. Through his research, he noticed the dogs would salivate, even before they were presented with food. He soon realized the dogs were associating his presence with food. Following more observations, Pavlov conditioned his dogs to salivate in response to a bell toll. Every day, he would ring the bell while the dogs were salivating and then present them with food. Eventually, the dogs began to salivate when the bell rung, even if food was not presented. Important components of classical conditioning:

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