1. Warm up 9/9/09 What parts of your personality, what talents, what quirks etc do you think you were “born with”? What do you think has been developed due to environment? Complete the yellow handout.

2. Learning and Systems Theories

3. Learning theories Watson’s behaviorism Rested in classical conditioning Rested in classical conditioning Learned associations between external stimuli and observable responses are the building blocks of development Learned associations between external stimuli and observable responses are the building blocks of development Children have no inborn tendencies. All nurture Children have no inborn tendencies. All nurture

4. Little Albert study Attempted to condition a severe emotional response in Little Albert, a nine-month-old child. Determined that white, furry objects, such as a rat, a rabbit, and cotton, did not produce any negative reaction in the baby. But by pairing together a neutral stimulus (white, furry animals and objects) with an unconditioned stimulus (a very loud noise) that elicited an unconditioned response (fear), Watson was able to create a new stimulus- response link: When Albert saw white, furry objects, this conditioned stimulus produced a conditioned response of fear.

5. 12 infants quote “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years.”

6. Questions Do you think babies are conditioned to respond in certain ways? Can emotional responses be learned? How? Explore the relationship between parent and child. How might this be conditioning?

7. Systems Theories Changes over the lifespan arise from interactions between a changing organism and a changing world. Changes in environment = changes in person. Changes in person = changes in environment. Agree or disagree? Explain

8. Gilbert Gottlieb Development occurs due to interaction with an evolving world. Looked at human responses to a changing (evolving) world. Development is the product of interacting biological and environmental forces. Agree or disagree? Why?

9. Theory We do not start out as a tabula rasae. Genes do not determine development. It is interaction of genes with environmental influences, individual behaviour and neural activity that make us who we are. Looked at behaviour as innate or instinctual. May or may not occur based on environment.

10. Putting these theories to the test If different developmental theorists were asked to recommend strategies to lower the rate of teen pregnancy, what would they recommend? Use the theoretical knowledge that you have to make your judgment. You may work with a partner to come up with an answer but you both need a copy for your binder.