Child Development Theories Flashcards

According to Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, which system represents the immediate environment a child directly interacts with, such as family and school?

Answer: Microsystem

The microsystem is the innermost layer of Bronfenbrenner's model and includes settings where the child has direct, face-to-face interactions.

Lev Vygotsky's concept of 'scaffolding' refers to which instructional strategy?

Answer: Providing temporary support to help a child accomplish tasks beyond their current ability

Scaffolding involves an adult or more skilled peer providing support that is gradually removed as the child develops competence.

Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences challenges the traditional view of intelligence by proposing that:

Answer: Children possess several distinct types of intelligence, such as musical and spatial

Gardner identified at least eight distinct intelligences, arguing that children can be smart in many different ways.

In Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory, which element is essential for a child to imitate a behavior they have observed?

Answer: Attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation

Bandura outlined four processes — attention, retention, motor reproduction, and motivation — that must occur for observational learning to result in imitation.

According to Jean Piaget, a child in the preoperational stage who believes the taller glass holds more water despite equal volumes is demonstrating a lack of:

Answer: Conservation

Conservation is the understanding that quantity does not change when the appearance of an object changes, and it is not mastered until the concrete operational stage.

Which theorist introduced the concept of 'attachment behavioral system' and described four attachment patterns including secure and insecure-avoidant?

Answer: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth

Bowlby developed attachment theory and Ainsworth's Strange Situation research identified secure, anxious-avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent attachment patterns.

A caregiver who responds consistently and sensitively to an infant's cues is most likely fostering which attachment style?

Answer: Secure attachment

Consistent, sensitive caregiving is the primary predictor of secure attachment, according to Ainsworth's research.