Ramadan Blog: Week II


The Chapter 2 reading for Week 2 of class is, again, a walk down memory lane. For the record, there’s nothing wrong with that. Theories of Development: Interpreting the Lifespan starts out with classic Freudian Psychoanalysis theory, which I feel we can safely say is mostly outdated though needless to say, his contribution to the field of psychology was immense in its time. Funny enough, the caption on page 31, “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar” gave me a chuckle as I’m doing this assignment with a cup of black coffee and cigar in hand.

The chapter then moves into Cognitive theories starting with Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory which I feel holds more weight today than Freud’s Psychoanalytic theories. After Erikson comes Piaget and his “Stages of Development” theory, and wraps up with Vygotsky’s “Sociocultural Theory”. Just as I mentioned with Erikson’s theories, I believe the same of Piaget and Vygotsky’s contributions: they hold up much better in today’s psychological world.

Chapter two then moves into the Behavioral Approach which goes into the works of Ivan Pavlov, B.F Skinner, and Albert Bandura. Here we learn about more research that has been critically important to the development of today’s psychology field. Things like conditioning, classical and operant, reinforcement, positive and negative, and modeling are given a good rundown in this section of the chapter.

The final rundowns given in this chapter are the Bioecological Model and the current direction of psychological research. These are things that I have not seen in prior social science classes, so they really grabbed my attention. Uri Brofenbrenner developed the Ecological Theory, and gives an Earth-like diagram. Starting from the outside it goes: chronosystem, macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem, microsystem and you. The diagram on page 43 honestly gives the best rundown of it. The current psychological research is appearing to focus on the interaction amongst the different levels of development, and the diagram on page 45 also gives a very good breakdown of it.

What stuck out most to me in this chapter was the little subsection on page 41 titled, “Does Spanking Lead to Violence?” Coming from a family, with many cousins, ranging from 29 years old to 6 months old I have seen and heard many different opinions on the matter. Some are completely against it while others are completely for it. I believe spanking can be a good punishment if used correctly. In my opinion, which can absolutely be viewed as less valid seeing as I am not a parent, I believe that spanking can be effective if used to signify a severe punishment. When I say severe, I do not mean beating you child bloody. I use it as a symbolism of sorts. Leave spanking for when your child does something that can absolutely not be tolerated. When I say spanking, I am also referring to swats on the bum or the hands, not an actual beating that may leave the child scarred for life. I am also interested to see your responses and opinions on the matter in the comments section below.        

Comments

  1. Ms. SandraSeptember 4, 2018 at 8:22 PM

    As an early childhood education teacher , I have read many of the theories mentioned on chapter two, and our curriculum is based upon Eric Erickson's and Vygotsky's theories of child development. We believe children learn through play, and curriculum is built around this concept. Moreover, behavioral consequences are stressed throughout our course of study. Theories such as Pavlov and Skinner are concepts that are applicable to the after effects of spanking. The "little Albert " experiment ( explains classical conditioning) is a good example of the consequences spanking can have on children. Spanking causes fear, anger, and hate. My father used to spank me all the time, and for reasons that didn't justify his actions. I can say it cause me much anger and fear towards my parent, and therefore, I felt more attached to my mother. Since, I know how it made me feel, I absolutely stay away from spanking my child. There are other ways to discipline children such as taking away privileges. Furthermore, I am a strong believer that spanking does in fact teach violence instead of the use of words. I understand your point of view, and understand that you condone spanking only for real good reasons, but because of my experiences I do not recommend it as a way of discipline.

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  2. Miles O'BrienSeptember 5, 2018 at 12:39 PM

    I found the irony very hysterical that you were reading and smoking a cigar while the caption also stated such action. The Bioecological model also intrigued me for being a very new topic I wasn't familiar with. Your positions are very well stated on all aspects of chapter two and I believe you did a good job relating them to your past and current life. I myself could relate to the bioecological model. Growing up in specific areas of the world have varying stimuli that effect how a person develops and I believe it to be one of the greatest contributing factors. Outliers and success stories come from those people that fought those stimuli, i.e., a person growing up in poverty to then lead a successful life in business and become a millionaire.

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