Developmental Psychology 102
I want to use the short story Paul’s Case by Wills Cather for this paper, it can be found here:
https://cather.unl.edu/writings/shortfiction/ss006
concepts for week 5: classical conditioning, unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response, operant conditioning, positive reinforcement, punishment, primary reinforcer or punisher, secondary reinforcer or punisher, extinction, shaping, social learning theories, observational learning modeling, gender schema
concepts for week 6: motor reflexes, Piagets cognitive stages, assimilation, accommodation, sensorimotor stage, object permanence, preoperational stage, egocentrsm, theory of mind, concrete operational stage, operations, conservation, formal operational stage, abstract reasoning, developing morality, preconventional morality, conventional morality, postconventional morality.
concepts for week 7:erikson’s psychosocial stages: trust vs mistrust, autonomy vs shame and doubt, initiative vs guilt, competence vs inferiority, identity vs role confusion, intimacy vs isolation, generativity vs stagnation, ego integrity vs despair, biological maturation, societal expectation, life crises.
Paper instructions:
Select a person 7-18 years old. The person could be a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, someone (living or dead) about whom you have read biographical information, or even a fictional character from a book, play, or movie (im choosing the short story Paul’s Case). After an Introductory Paragraph (#1), in Paragraph 2 describe the person, including a challenge (problem or opportunity) the person is experiencing or has experienced at this time of life.
In Paragraphs 3-5, use ONE concept EACH from weeks 5-7 in the syllabus, to explain how the person has developed a way of dealing with the challenge (it doesn’t matter whether or not the person’s response to the challenge is or was useful). For weeks 6 and 7, the explanation must take account of the developmental stage the person was in at the time of the challenge.
Be sure to include a definition of each of the concepts explained. For stage theories (Paragraphs 4 and 5), the definition should involve one sentence on what aspects of thought, feeling or behavior the theory focuses on (i.e. cognition, morality or psycho-social) plus a description of the characteristics of people in the particular stage you are applying according to the authors of the theory. Then apply the theory to the person about whom you are writing.
In Paragraph 6, discuss how, based upon the material of section 2 of the course (not just your own opinion), the person’s response to the challenge (problem or opportunity) would have been different if she/he were five years younger. This should be only one paragraph, using a few sentences for each concept used in the earlier paragraphs to describe how the response of the person at the younger age might be different than the response at the current age. Use the same concepts you used in paragraphs 3-5 to briefly discuss the younger age but of course there may be some differences in the details of concepts at an earlier age. Paragraph 7 is the Conclusion.
The format of the paper is similar to that used in paper 1: an introduction paragraph, a paragraph describing the person and the challenge, a paragraph to apply each concept, PLUS one paragraph to discuss the response that might have occurred if the person were five years younger, and a conclusion. Total 7 paragraphs. Remember to use the model for a paper that is in the syllabus, such as using topic sentences for the paragraphs.
