DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES
H U M A N G R OW T H & D E V E L O P M E N T
THE ROLE OF DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES
• Developmental theories are comprehensive explanations about
why people act and behave the way they do and how they change
over time
– Help us understand the people around us better
– Gives us a broader picture of how people develop and change
over time
– Helps us develop empathy (the ability to be sensitive and
understanding to the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of
others)
TYPES OF THEORIES
1. Psychoanalytic Theories
– Based on the belief that development is unconscious
– Theories analyze the symbolic meaning behind behaviors
2. Cognitive Theories
– Ideas about how people process information, think, and learn
– Used to explain the differences between how people think over
time
3. Behaviorism Theories
– Based on the belief that people’s behavior is determined by
forces in the environment that are beyond their control
P S Y C H O A N A LY T I C T H E O R I E SFREUD, ERIKSON
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S I G M U N D F R E U D
SIGMUND FREUD
• Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory - The Big Idea
in under 3 Minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCtm0FSGZus
SIGMUND FREUD (1856 – 1939)
• Freud was a pioneer in applying
psychoanalytic theory
• His theory focused on early
life experiences
–He believed that what happens
early in life affects a person for years to
come
• Although his theory is not considered
scientifically sound today, he opened the door
to a new way of understanding development
ID, EGO, SUPEREGO
• ID: source of psychological and physical tension that does
not think or reason
• EGO: part of the personality that deal with logic and
controlled behavior
• SUPEREGO: a person’s moral code
• He regarded the development of personality as being the
balance between the Ego and the SuperEgo. The Id strives
for unrealistic gratification, the SuperEgo strives for
unrealistic moral responsibilities and the Ego acts to
compromise these two opposing forces.
PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
•Experiences in early childhood influence later
development. Assumes sexual factors play a part
in our development. He suggested that basic
sexual instincts were the driving force behind all
behaviors.
Stage Ages
Primary
Focus Area
Major Development Adult Fixation Example
Oral 0 – 18
months
Mouth,
tongue, lips
Weaning off breast/bottle
feeding
Smoking, overeating, gum
chewing, nail biting
Anal 18 – 36
months
Anus Toilet training – pleasure
focuses on bowel and
bladder elimination
Orderliness, messiness
Phallic 3 – 6 years Genitals Resolving Oedipus/Electra
Complex (incestuous
sexual feelings
Deviancy, sexual dysfunction
Latency 6 years –
puberty
None Dormant sexual feelings None
Genital Puberty + Genitals Reaching sexual maturity If all stages were successfully
completed, the person should
be sexually matured and
mentally healthy
E R I K E R I KS O N
ERIK ERIKSON (1902 – 1944)
• 8 life stages
• At each stage, an individual
must resolve a psychological or
social conflict
• If conflict is not resolved, it will
impact their future stages of
development
MATCHING ACTIVIT Y –
TABLE GROUPS
STAGE 1: TRUST VS. MISTRUST
Age: Infancy (Birth to 18 months)
• Babies learn about trust from their caregivers who meet
their needs including food, attention, physical contact,
interaction, and safety.
• When needs are not met, babies do not learn to trust
others and the world is perceived as unpredictable.
STAGE 2: AUTONOMY VS. SHAME AND DOUBT
Toddler (18 months to 3 years)
• Toddlers learn to control their bodies
– Through feeding, toileting, dressing, and developing physically
• As toddlers learn new skills, they become self-confident
• A lack of control or independence can make them feel like failures
and cause shame and doubt.
– Often this is caused by caregivers punishing them for not doing
things right
STAGE 3: INITIATIVE VS. GUILT
Early Childhood (3 to 5 years)
• Young children learn about the world through exploring
• They learn what is real and what is imaginary
• They learn to take initiative for their place in the world
• Criticism and punishment can result in guilt for their
actions
STAGE 4: INDUSTRY VS. INFERIORITY
Middle Childhood (6 through 12 years)
• Children develop tasks to complete both at school and
home
• They develop a sense of self and confidence by becoming
competent in the outside world
• If they, or others, compare them negatively against others,
feelings of inferiority can surface
STAGE 5: IDENTITY VS. ROLE CONFUSION
Adolescence (13 through 18 years)
• Preteens and teen begin to understand and experiment
with a number of different roles.
• A task at this stage is to integrate multiple roles as sister,
daughter, student, friend, and employee into one consistent
role
• If central or core identity is not established, role confusion
exists
STAGE 6: INTIMACY VS. ISOLATION
Early Adulthood (19 through 39 years)
• During later adolescence and early adulthood, intimate
relationships form
• These relationships require sharing one’s self emotionally
• Failure to establish emotional intimacy results in emotional
or psychological isolation
STAGE 7: GENERATIVITY VS. STAGNATION
Middle Adulthood (40 through 65 years)
• Adults in midlife begin to place an emphasis on helping
others and through sharing culture with the next
generation
• This can be done in many ways including raising children,
teaching others in the workplace or community, or passing
on cultural values
• A lack of generativity leads to stagnation
STAGE 8: INTEGRITY VS. DESPAIR
Older Adulthood (66 years and older)
• Adults review their life and reflect on its meaning
• If people are satisfied with the meaning of their life and
involvement, there is a sense of integrity
• Without finding a meaning to one’s own life, an individual
will develop despair
ERIK ERIKSON
• 8 Stages of Development by Erik Eriksonhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYCBdZLCDBQ
•Disney Pixar and Erik Erikson's Eight Stages of Developmenthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhBbE8hSz1I
C O G N I T I V E T H E O R I E SPIAGET, VYGOTSKY, KOHLBERG
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J E A N P I A G ET
DEFINE
• Schema – Building blocks of knowledge
• Assimilation – Which is using an existing schema to deal
with a new object or situation.
–Child sees a snake for the first time and calls it a worm
• Accommodation – This happens when the existing schema
(knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to
deal with a new object or situation.
–Child learns that a snake and a worm are different
JEAN PIAGET (1896 – 1980)
• Responsible for the Theory of Cognitive Development
• Was the first to study cognitive development on children
that focused on developmental stages, rather than how much
they can learn
• 4 Stages:
–Sensorimotor
–Preoperational
–Concrete Operational
–Formal Operational
SENSORIMOTOR STAGE (BIRTH TO 2 YEARS)• Infants use their senses and motor
skills to learn and communicate
• The main goal to achieve during
this stage is object permanence
– Knowing that an object still exists if it is hidden
– Example: “Peek-a-Boo”
• If a child is still engaged in peek-a-boo, they are likely still in
this stage
• VIDEO: Object Permanence
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage(2 – 7 years)
• Begin to think symbolically
– Uses words and picture to represent objects
• Tend to be egocentric, meaning they view the world in relation to themselves
– Child thinks that everyone thinks the same way he or she does
– Egocentrism –example: they may offer others candy from their mouth because they are enjoying it and they think you would too.
• Does not yet have the ability to think logicallyVIDEO: Piaget's Conservation Tasks
Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage (7 – 11 years)
• Children begin thinking
logically and learn how to
solve complex problems
• Can understand the
concept of conservation
(These conservation tasks are
demonstrated in the last video)
Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage(12 years +)
• Can think abstractly and hypothetically
– When playing checkers, the child can plan ahead and use
strategies
An example of a child who has not yet his the formal operation stage
L E V V Y G O T S K Y
Lev Vygotsky (1896 – 1934)
• Believed that the culture in which a child
is reared and his own social environment
determines how a child will think
• Teaching should be done through model,
instruction, and working together on
tasks or projects
– Helping children is called scaffolding
Lev Vygotsky Cont.Important Terms:
• Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): Level that a children can learn with help
• Scaffolding: Providing help to the child until they grow confident
• Modeling: Showing children how to perform tasks by demonstrating
– “Look at my wed sooes!”
– “Yes, these are your pretty red shoes”
L AW R E N C E KO H L B E R G
LAWRENCE KOHLBERG (1927 – 1987)
• Studied the way morals change as
individuals age by interviewing
children and then following up
every 3 years for 20 years ages
and studied their responses.
•Kohlberg developed a model,
which attempted to explain how
children develop a sense of right
or wrong.
KOHLBERG’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY• Identified three different levels of thinking that
people go through in making moral decisions
(personal decisions that evaluate what is right and
what is wrong)
–Level 1 – Preconventional Morality
–Level 2 – Conventional Morality
–Level 3 – Postconventional Morality
KOHLBERG’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY• Level 1 – Preconventional Morality (typical of young children)
– Decisions are made based on punishments or rewards
• Stage one (obedience and punishment driven)
– Focus on the direct consequences of their actions on themselves
– For example, an action is perceived as morally wrong because the person is
punished. "The last time I did that I got spanked, so I will not do it again."
• Stage two (self-interest driven)
– Right behavior is defined by whatever the individual believes to be in their best
interest
– For example, parents offer a child an incentive by giving a child an allowance to
pay them for their chores. The child is motivated by self-interest to do chores.
KOHLBERG’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY• Level 2 – Conventional Morality (typical of adolescents/adults)
– Decisions are motivated by laws and the societal norms of the people we
surround ourselves with
• Stage three (good intentions determined by society)
– Individuals are receptive to approval or disapproval from others as it reflects
society's views.
– May judge the morality of an action by evaluating its consequences in terms of
a person's relationships, which now begin to include things like respect and
gratitude
– "I want to be liked and thought well of; apparently, not being naughty makes
people like me."
KOHLBERG’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY• Stage four (authority and social order obedience
driven)
– It is important to obey laws, dictums, and social conventions
because of their importance in maintaining a functioning society.
• If one person violates a law, perhaps everyone would—thus there is an
obligation and a duty to uphold laws and rules.
• Most active members of society remain at stage four, where
morality is still predominantly dictated by an outside force.
KOHLBERG’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY• Level 3 – Postconventional Morality (typical adults)
– Decisions are made based on individual rights and justice
– Individuals may disobey rules inconsistent with their own
principles
– Post-conventional moralists live by their own ethical
principles—principles that typically include such basic human
rights as life, liberty, and justice
– Some theorists have speculated that many people may never
reach this level of abstract moral reasoning
KOHLBERG’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY• Stage five (social contract driven)
– Laws are regarded as social contracts rather than rigid rules.
Those that do not promote the general welfare should be
changed when necessary to meet "the greatest good for the
greatest number of people".
• Stage six (universal ethical principles driven)
– Individuals act because it is right – not to avoid punishment, to
fulfill their personal interest, and not because it’s expected, legal,
or previously agreed upon.
LAWRENCE KOHLBERG (1927 – 1987)
• Studied this theory by asking
individuals what they would do in
ethical dilemmas
–Kohlberg’s Heinz Dilemma
• Heinz Dilemma - Kohlberg's stages of
Moral Development (Interactive
Animation)https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation
_522383&feature=iv&src_vid=5czp9S4u26M&v=5czp9S4u2
6M#t=1m37.5s
WHAT DO YOU THINK?• Should have Heinz stolen the
drug?
• Would it change anything if Heinz
did not love his wife?
• What if the person dying was a
stranger, would it make any
difference?
• Should the police arrest the
chemist for murder if Heinz’s wife
died from not receiving the drug?
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IVAN PAVLOV (1849 - 1906)• Developed the theory of classical conditioning
(behaviors that are associated with an emotional response)
• Dog Experiment:
– A bell would ring every time a dog was served food
– After a while, the dog learned to salivate at the sound
of the bell rather that from the presence of food
• What that means for humans…
– Repeating actions will teach an individual to have an
emotional response
– Example: A mom gasps loudly any time her child goes
near a pool, this leads the child to develop a fear of
swimming
JOHN WATSON (1878-1958)
•Classical Conditioning
of a Fear Response
•The Little Albert
Experiment
https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=5duLMj
aTL0U
B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990)
Responsible for the Operant Conditioning Theory
• The Experiment
1. Rat placed in box and delivered food through automatic feeder
2. Rat recognizes sound of feeder
3. Lever placed on box. Rat receives food when lever is touched.
4. Rat learns to touch lever to receive food
B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990)
Responsible for the Operant Conditioning Theory
• Operant Conditioninghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA
B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990)
• Positive reinforcement - Positive reinforcement strengthens a
behavior by providing a result an individual finds rewarding
– Example: A child gets dessert when they finish their meal
• Negative reinforcement - The removal of an unpleasant
reinforcer to strengthen behavior (removal of an adverse
stimulus which is ‘rewarding’ to the animal or person)
– Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior because it stops or removes
an unpleasant experience.
– Example: A child cleans their room to avoid being scolded by a parent later
that night
B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990)
• Positive punishment - Presenting a negative consequence after
an undesired behavior is exhibited, making the behavior less likely
to happen in the future.
– Example: A child is spanked when they talk back to their parent
• Negative punishment – Removing a potentially rewarding
stimulus to punish undesired behavior
– Example: A child fights with their sibling so his parents take away his
favorite toy
• Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and
negative reinforcement.
B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990)
• There are many problems with using punishment, such as:
– Punished behavior is not forgotten, it's suppressed - behavior returns when
punishment is no longer present.
– Causes increased aggression - shows that aggression is a way to cope with
problems.
– Creates fear that can generalize to undesirable behaviors, e.g., fear of
school.
– Does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior - reinforcement tells
you what to do, punishment only tells you what not to do.
• Extinction - disappearance of a previously learned behavior when
the behavior is not reinforced
B.F. Skinner Cont.
Findings:
• When children receive positive
reinforcement they will continue to do the action
• When children receive negative reinforcement, something
they do not like is removed so they will do the desired action
ALBERT BANDURA (1925-CURRENT)• Argued that people imitate other
people’s behaviors, despite whether
there are rewards or punishments
involved
• Bandura’s theory is called the social
learning (cognitive) theory
• Social cognitive theorists believe a
child who observes a kind act may
later imitate the same act toward a
classmate
ALBERT BANDURA (1925-CURRENT)• Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBq
wWlJg8U
• Prudential: Everybody's Doing It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgRoi
TWkBHU&feature=youtu.be
O T H E R T H E O R I E S /R E S E A R C H E R S M O N T E S S O R I , M A S L OW, G E S E L L
ABRAHAM MASLOW (1908-1970)
• Developed the Hierarchy of Needs
• Based research on human needs and how there are levels that must
be met before one can have other needs.
• Levels include:
1. Physical Needs- air, food, water, warmth, sleep
2. Safety and Security- order, limits, law
3. Love and Acceptance- family, affection, relationships
4. Esteem- self-esteem, achievement, status, prestige
5. Self-Actualization- personal potential, self-fulfillment
MARIA MONTESSORI (1870-1952)
• Italian educator whose theory states children learn best through
their senses pursuing their own interests at their own rate.
• Developed the Montessori method
– Children are natural eager for knowledge/learning
– Children should initiate learning in a supportive, thoughtfully
prepared learning environment
– Attempts to develop children physically, socially, emotionally and
cognitively.
• She was responsible for developing the Montessori School
MARIA MONTESSORI (1870-1952)
• Montessori School
– Mixed age classrooms
– Student choice of activity from within a prescribed range of options
– Uninterrupted blocks of work time, ideally three hours
– A constructivist or "discovery" model, where students learn concepts from working with materials, rather than by direct instruction
– Specialized educational materials developed by Montessori and her collaborators often made out of natural, aesthetic materials such as wood, rather than plastic.
– A thoughtfully prepared environment where materials are organized by subject area, within reach of the child, and are appropriate in size
– Freedom of movement within the classroom
– A trained Montessori teacher who follows the child and is highly experienced in observing the individual child's characteristics, tendencies, innate talents and abilities
ARNOLD GESELL (1880-1961)
• His theory was concerned with the physical development of
children
• Came up with “milestones of development”
– Developed the normal sequence of development and at what age
children should be able to do certain things
– These age-norms are still used today by the medical profession
– The age-norms give us a standard by which to monitor a child’s
development.
ARNOLD GESELL (1880-1961)
• Maturational Theory of Child Development
– Documented a set of behavioral norms that illustrate sequential and
predictable patterns of growth and development.
– Children go through the same stages of development in the same sequence,
although each child may move through these stages at their own rate
I N C O N C L U S I O N …T H E R E A R E H U N D R E D O F
D E V E LO P M E N T T H E O R I E S . N O
O N E T HE O RY S HO U LD B E
R E GA R D E D A S C O M P LE T E
T RU T H .
H U M A N S A R E TO O C O M P LE X
TO D E S C R I B E U S I N G
S I M P LI S T I C T H E O R I E S .
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