CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES: AN OVERVIEW OBJECTIVE 46: ANALYZE CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION BEST PRACTICES.

CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES/THEORISTS Psychologists continuously study human development at EVERY stage Learning more about what people are like and how we develop Many are now considered “practical” guides Theory: a principle or idea that is proposed, researched, and generally accepted as an explanation. Helpful for understanding the guiding developmental processes Each theory provides a different approach to working with children/people

SIGMUND FREUD: PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGE THEORY How parents deal with a child’s basic sexual and aggressive desires determined their personalities and if they would become functional adults Stages of Development: focus on sexual activity & pleasure Oral – sucking/biting Anal – potty training Phallic – genital simulation and gender differences Latency – interest temporarily removed Genital – adult sexual interest emerge

Phallic Stage Child’s pleasure focuses on genitals Figure 2.1 Latency Stage Child represses sexual interest and develops social and intellectual skills Anal Stage Child’s pleasure focuses on anus Genital Stage A time of sexual reawakening; source of sexual pleasure becomes someone outside of the family Oral Stage Infant’s pleasure centers on mouth Freudian Stages 6 yrs to puberty Birth to 1½ yrs 1½ to 3 yrs Puberty onward 3 to 6 years

ERIK ERIKSON: PSYCHOSOCIAL STAGE THEORY 8 stages involving a social conflict/crisis Resolution is required before moving forward Stages include: Trust vs. Mistrust Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Initiative vs. Guilt Industry vs. Inferiority

Erikson’s StagesDevelopmental Period Trust vs MistrustInfancy (first year) Autonomy vs shame & doubt Infancy (1 to 3 years) Initiative vs guiltEarly childhood (3 to 5 years) Industry vs inferiorityMiddle and late childhood Identity vs identity confusion Adolescence (10 to 20 years) Intimacy vs isolationEarly adulthood (20s, 30s) Generativity vs stagnation Middle adulthood (40s, 50s) Integrity vs despairLate adulthood (60s onward) Figure 2.2 Erikson’s Eight Life-Span Stages

KOHLBERG: MORAL UNDERSTANDING STAGE THEORY Believed that people progressed in their moral reasoning through a series of stages Pre-conventional Obedience and Punishment Individualism, Instrumentalism, &Exchange Conventional Good boy/girl Law & Order Post-conventional Social Contract Principled Conscience

JEAN PIAGET: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT STATE THEORY Thinking is different at each stage of development Children naturally attempt to understand what they do not already know Schemata – mental representations/concept, the constant creating, modifying, organizing, and reorganizing as new information is learned Adaptation – the mental organizing of their environment Assimilation – process of taking in new information & adding to previous knowledge Accommodation – adjusting to fit new information Stages: Sensorimotor Stage Preoperational Stage Concrete Operations Formal Operations

Preoperational Stage: The child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words and images reflect increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the connection of sensory information and physical action. Formal Operational Stage The adolescent reasons in more abstract idealistic and logical ways. Sensorimotor Stage: The infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions: progressing from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward end of the stage. Concrete Operational Stage: The child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets. Figure –15 years of age through adulthood Birth to 2 years of age 2 to 7 years of age 7 to 11 years of age Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development

BRONFENBRENNER: ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY Systems within a structure with which an individual interacts 5 Systems: Microsystem Mesosystem Exosystem Mactosystem Chronosystem

ExosystemMesosystems Macrosystem Family School & classroom Religion & groups Peer group Chronosystem School system Political philosophy National customs Economic patterns Social conditions Cultural values Community Mass media Medical institutions Figure 2.5 Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory of Development

MASLOW: HIERARCHY OF NEEDS People are motivated to achieve certain needs Once fulfilled, the individual moves on Stages: Biological & Psychological Safety Social Esteem Self-actualization

LEV VYGOTSKY: SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY Social interaction plays a fundamental role in cognitive development Principles: Cognitive development is limited to a certain range at any given age Full cognitive development requires social interaction

HOWARD GARDNER: MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES THEORY Different kind of intelligences exist in the human brain Result of complex interactions between heredity and experience(s) How culture shapes human potential Intelligences include: Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence Musical-rhythmic Logical-mathematical Verbal-linguistic Interpersonal Intrapersonal Visual-spatial Naturalistic

OTHER INFLUENCES ON DEVELOPMENT Heredity Blood type, eye color, and hair color Environment Children also learn attitudes and beliefs from their environments