Question

1.The microsystem is Bronfenbrenner’s term for the im-

mediate environment, the settings where people experience

their daily lives. Microsystems in most cultures include relation-

ships with each parent, with siblings, and perhaps with extended

family; with peers and friends; with teachers; and with other adults (such

as coaches, religious leaders, and employers). Bronfenbrenner emphasizes that

the child is an active agent in the microsystems. For example, children are affected

by their parents but children’s behavior affects their parents as well; children are

affected by their friends but they also make choices about whom to have as friends.

The microsystem is where most research in developmental psychology has focused.

Today, however, most developmental psychologists use the term context rather than

microsystem to refer to immediate environmental settings and relationships.

2. The mesosystem is the network of interconnections between the various

microsystems. For example, a child who is experiencing abusive treatment from

parents may become difficult to handle in relationships with teachers; or, if a

parent’s employer demands longer hours in the workplace the parent’s relationship

with the child may be affected.

3. The exosystem refers to the societal institutions that have indirect but potentially

important influences on development. In Bronfenbrenner’s theory, these institutions

include schools, religious institutions, and media. For example, in Asian countries

such as South Korea, competition to get into college is intense and depends

chiefly on adolescents’ performance on a national exam at the end of high school;

consequently, the high school years are a period of extreme academic stress.

4. The macrosystem is the broad system of cultural beliefs and values, and the

economic and governmental systems that are built on those beliefs and

values. For example, in countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia, cultural

beliefs and values are based in the religion of Islam, and the economic

and governmental systems of those countries are also based on the

teachings of Islam. In contrast, in most developed countries, beliefs in

the value of individual freedom are reflected in a capitalist economic

system and in governmental systems of representative democracy.

5. Finally, the chronosystem refers to changes that occur in

developmental circumstances over time, both with respect to

individual development and to historical changes. For example,

how to put this in our own words each number part

and Explain how the model could be helpful to yourself and developmental psychologists. Support your claims with examples.

Answer 1

Bronfenbrenner formulated the Ecological Systems Theory to clearly suggest how the inherent qualities of children and their environments interact to influence how they grow and develop. It talked about the importance of studying children in multiple environments, also known as ecological systems, in the attempt to understand their development. The children typically find themselves enmeshed in various ecosystems, from the most intimate home ecological system to the larger school system, and then to the most expansive system which includes society and culture. Each of these ecological systems interact and influence each other in all aspects of the children’s lives hence shaping them in to the beings they develop over time with all the affection and might as possible.