Deck 16: Section 1: Conclusions

Question 1

Describe several aspects of the sociocultural context in which you grew up (think about place, time, and economic and family circumstances), and explain how these characteristics may have influenced your development. If you have children or plan to have them in the future, what changes to the sociocultural context are likely? How might these influence your children's development?

Answer 1

Not Answer

Question 2

Describe a specific aspect of development that interests you (e.g., development of speech, development of friendships, development of understanding of gravity), and describe three mechanisms of change that you believe may be involved. One mechanism of change should be biological, one should be behavioural, and one should be cognitive.

Answer 2

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Question 3

Briefly describe how you generally respond to failure. Do you tend to see failure as a challenge, making you want to try harder? Or does failure make you feel terrible and make you want to give up? How might this tendency have actively influenced your environment? For instance, how might it have influenced your own behaviour, including the types of activities you sought (or did not seek)? How might it have influenced the behaviour of teachers, parents, and peers toward you? Give examples.

Answer 3

Not Answer

Question 4

Imagine you meet a new teacher in a coffee shop. You tell her that you just completed a course in child development, and she asks you what you learned that could help her in her new job as a teacher. Describe three things you learned in this course that you would tell her. Be specific, and provide examples.

Question 5

Think about an individual difference variable that particularly interests you. Does this individual difference variable have the three properties that are considered important in determining the significance of a dimension of individual differences? Explain, and provide supportive examples.

Question 6

Describe what you believe are the three most important pieces of information you learned in this course that will influence your parenting if you choose to have children. Be specific, and provide examples where necessary.

Question 7

Describe how children's development of self-locomotion is an example of their active influence on their own environment. Be specific, and provide at least three examples.

Question 8

Imagine two of your friends are arguing about whether nature or nurture is more important in human development. One friend argues that nature is more important and that nurture only influences children's development in minor ways. The other friend insists that nurture is more important and that any two children placed in the same environment will develop in nearly the same manner. Your friends then ask for your opinion. Are you able to answer the question of whether nature or nurture is more important? Why or why not? What have you learned in this course that can convince your friends of your position? Give at least three examples, and be specific in your argument.

Question 9

Choose an individual difference variable that you learned about in this course and that is particularly interesting to you. Describe how genes and environment contribute to the stability of this variable over time. Be specific, and provide supportive examples.

Question 10

Before taking this course, what were your beliefs about whether development is generally gradual and continuous, or disjointed and discontinuous? What have you learned in this course that has either supported your beliefs or failed to support them? Be specific, and provide detailed examples.