CHAPTER ONE

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CHAPTER ONE

• INTRODUCTION
• Novak Pelaez (2004)

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A Behavioral Systems Approach

• Behavior Analysis focus on behavior-environment
  relations as the main phenomena of psychology
• Behavioral Systems Theory natural science
  approach to development emphasizing constant,
  reciprocal interactions between behavior and
  environment

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A Dynamic Systems Approach

• The person and the environment are in a
  continuous, reciprocal interaction.
• Psychological development as the outcome of
  progressive interactions between the person and
  the environment.

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Psychological Development

• Focus on changes in interactions
• Changes are progressive
• Changes occur across the life span

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Areas of Development
Physical Motor Emotional Perceptual Moral Intellec
tual Social
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The Scientific MethodTwo Common Methods

• Reliance on systematic observations made under
  well- specified conditions
• Using special techniques, as well as statistics,
  for organizing and summarizing the descriptions
  of those observations

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Process of Conducting Science Includes

• Formulating a hypothesis
• Conducting direct observations on the phenomenon
  to test the hypothesis
• Accepting, rejecting, or modifying the hypothesis
• Positing new questions from the data obtained

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3 Important Aspects of The Scientific Method

• Validity of the observation
• Replication of the observation
• Control of extraneous variables

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Continuum based on Dynamical Systems
Molecular physics ?-------------------------------
? Molar anthropology (Interactions b/w
(Culture and society)
sub-atomic particles) Physics
Psychology Chemistry Sociology
Biology Anthropology
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Developmental Psychology

• The study of the progressive changes in the
  relationships between an organism and its
  environment over the life span of the organism.

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The Evolution of Species and Behavior

• Developmental Phylogenesis - the study of
  behavioral changes within a species over
  evolutionary time.
• Nature
• VERSUS
• Developmental Ontogenesis - the study of
  individuals over their lifetimes.
• Nurture

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Trajectory of development is not a smooth,
straight-line progression

• Phase shifts sudden changes in
• the rate or form of development
• Strange attractions when new
• patterns of behavior emerge from
• person-environment interactions

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Horowitzs 4 Stages of Developmental Behavioral
Systems

• Level 1 Basic Process - view development as a
  set of basic processes and components.
• Level 2 Patterns of behavior - view development
  in intelligence, personality, creativity, or
  their facets
• Level 3 Social Interactions - view development
  as a bidirectional interactions
• Level 4 Society and Culture - view developing by
  looking at the effects of society and culture on
  the child.

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Learning is

• A change in the behavior-environment
  relationship.
• Changes are relatively permanent not merely
  momentary.
• Due to experience with the environment.

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Naturalistic Approach

• Advantages
• Very likely to describe how development occurs in
  real life rather than in the lab.
• Yields good descriptions of what actually occurs.

• Disadvantages
• Its lack of control over variables makes the
  determination of casual variables impossible.

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Basic and Applied Behavior Analysis

• Emphasis of Single-Subjects Designs.
• Two advantages are
• Multiple developmental variables unique to the
  individual are controlled by the use of the
  individual as its own control.
• Individual patterns of change are not masked by
  averaging the changes out as group methods do.
• Disadvantage is that generalizability may be
  reduced by this focus on the individual.