Child Development Theories Presentation

Jared L.A. Nierman

January 22, 2014

EDUC 121: Child & Adolescent Development

Andrea Bush

Freud: Psychosexual Theory Emphasizes parents management of child’s sexual and aggressive drives

This management within the first few years of a child’s life are crucial to a healthy development.

Parents need a balance between what to permit, and what needs gratification.

Involves integration of Id, Ego, and Superego Id: Source of basic biological needs. Ego: Conscious rational part of personality.

Superego: Conscience that often tries to conform to acceptable values of society.

The Id is relevant from birth.

The Ego arises in infancy to redirect Id’s impulses in an acceptable manner.

The Superego usually develops within 3-6 years of age through interaction with parents.

Influence/Criticism Freud is first to stress early child/parent

relationship.

Many others built off of, or around his theory (especially id, ego, and superego).

Many believed his theory over emphasized importance of sexual feelings.

These stages of development (right) did not apply to all cultures.

Freud had never studied children directly.

Freudian Psychosexual Stages of Development

Erikson: Psychosocial Theory:

Influenced from Freud’s psychosexual theory

Emphasizes mediation between demands of Id, and Superego

The ego is a positive contributor to development, it acquires skills which make individual active in a positive way in society.

5 stages similar to Freud’s theory, but Erikson added 3 adult stages

Each stage revolved around a positive and negative continuum resulting in either a positive or negative developmental outcome

Influence/Criticism

Made the point that development must be understood culturally

One of the first that realized development is life long

Helped show that seemingly cruel acts in other cultures may actually be essential for survival and boost development

Some think Erikson’s theory is more applicable to males

Others claim his theory shows too much attention to infancy/childhood

Erikson’s Stages Of Development

Behaviorism

Traditional behaviorism began with John Watson (1878-1958)

The focus is on directly observable events

Studies stimuli and responses

Watson did experiments on infants to see if classical conditioning could be applied to children’s behavior

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) began the operant conditioning theory

Frequency of a behavior can be increased or decreased

Reinforcement or punishment is used to obtain desirable behavior

Influences/Criticism

Have had major impact on practices with children today Help treat developmental problems such as aggression,

language delays and fear Used to treat “bad habits” in adults as well

Lack of explanations of more complex behavior like language or memory

Since many experiments used animals, many considered them irrelevant in terms of child development

Some studies done by Watson were considered unethical

Outline of Operant Conditioning

Piaget: Cognitive Developmental Theory

This theory states that children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate/explore their world.

His theory was greatly influenced by his background in biology.

Emphasizes the term adaptation

We physically adapt to fit our environment, but so do our minds

Children’s understanding is much different from adults

Preschoolers contain faulty logic, they try to obtain a balance of ideas between internal structures and information from the outside world

Piaget characterized 4 broad stages, each described with different distinct ways of thinking.

The mind develops as experiences expand

Influences/Criticism Convinced many that children

are active learners Influenced many to study

children’s conceptions of themselves, others, human relationships and the physical world (social/environmental)

Influenced many programs that emphasize children’s direct contact with the environment

Believed that he underestimated competencies of infants/preschoolers

Some question his theory that discovery learning plays a bigger role than adult teachings

Some also believe that learning is much more gradual then Piaget portrayed

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

References

Berk, L. (2012). Infants, Children, and Adolescents. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Cramer, C., Flynn, B., Lafave, A. (1997). Erik Erikson's 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development. cortland.edu. Retrieved from http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/ERIK/welcome.HTML

Cherry, K., Plotnik, R.(2010, November 8th). Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development. theoriesinpyschologgyf10.wikispaces.com. Retrieved from http://theoriesinpsychologyf10.wikispaces.com/Freud's+Stages+of+Psychosexual+Development_Picture_1.png

McCracken, J. (2013, February 8th) AP PSYCHOLOGY FEBRUARY 2013. jmccrackenworld.com. Retrieved from http://jmccrackenworld.com/PSYCHFEBSandy.html

Naik, P. (1998, August). Behaviorism as a Theory of Personality: A Critical Look. personalityresearch.org. Retrieved from http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/naik.html