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WGU D307 Educational Psychology & Human Development Study Guide
1.Maslow: Humanist psychologist who developed a pyramid
representing heirar- chy of human needs
2.Piaget: theorist that developed a series of stages in which an
individual passes during cognitive development; associated with
constructivism
3.Vygotsky: theorist focused on the social world of people when
explaining cog- nitive development; associated with constructivism
4.Erikson: theorist who studied psychosocial development across the
lifespan
5.Bandura: Theorist who focused on observational learning; famous for
the Bobo doll experiment; active in social-cognitive theory
6.Kohlberg: theorist who claimed individuals went through a series of
stages in the process of moral development.
7.Gilligan: theorist who examined moral differences between boys and
girls based on social rules and on ethic of caring and responsibility;
critical of Kohlberg
8.Skinner: theorist who developed the theory of operant conditioning;
associated with behaviorism
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9.Chomsky: theorist who formed the Universal Grammar theory;
associated with language development
10.Spearman: theorist who proposed a theory of general intelligence
(IQ) mea- sured by ‘g factor’)
11.Gardner: theorist who wanted to broaden definition of intelligence;
created 8 types of intelligence
12.Thurnstone: theorist who proposed multiple primary mental abilities
as a way to define intelligence
13.Sternberg: theorist who developed triarchic theory of intelligence
14.Rogers: theorist who expanded on Maslow’s concepts; associated
with hu- manism
15.Bloom: theorist who developed taxonomy of cognitive processes
16.Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: (level 1) Physiological Needs, (level 2)
Safety and Security, (level 3) Relationships, Love and Affection, (level
4) Self Esteem, (level 5) Self Actualization
17.Schema: a conceptual framework a person uses to make sense of theworld
18.Assimilation: interpreting our new experiences in terms of our
existing schemas
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19.Accommodation: adapting our current understandings (schemas) to
incorpo- rate new information
20.Equilibration: the process by which children (or other people)
balance assim- ilation and accommodation to create stable
understanding
21.Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): The gap between what a
learner can accomplish alone and what he or she can achieve with
guidance from more skilled partners.
22.Vygotsky’s 3 Types of Language: Social Speech (to others), Private
Speech (to self), and Silent Inner Speech (associated with selfregulation)
23.Observational Learning (3 types): learning by observing others; the
three types are live (live demonstration), verbal (verbal instructions),
and symbolic (e.g. narrative lesson)
24.Social Learning Theory: the theory that we learn social behavior by
observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished;
associated with Bandura and his Bobo doll experiment
25.Bandura’s 4 Elements of Observational Learning: attention, memory,
imi- tation, motivation (also called mediational processes)
26.Care Ethics: The theory that attitudes like caring and sensitivity to
context is an important aspect of the moral life, particularly for
women and girls; developed by Carol Gilligan
27.Nativism: theory that human beings have an inborn capacity for