HG&D: Chapter 2 pages 33-45

Developmental theory: a systematic set of principles and generalizations that provide a coherent framework for studying and explaining development. Developmental theories: -form the basis for educated guesses, or hypothesis, for behavior -generate discoveries -offer insight and guidance for everyday concerns by providing a coherent view of human development

Development theories fall into 3 categories: -grand theories -mini-theories -emergent theories

Psychoanalytic theories interpret human development in terms of intrinsic motives and drives, many of which are unconscious and irrational. According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, children experience sexual pleasures and desires during the first six years and they pass through three psychosexual stages.

Freud: Three stages are from infancy to early childhood to the preschool years. -oral -anal -phallic One of his most influential ideas was that each stage includes its own potential conflicts between child and parent.

Freud’s stages: Oral – mouth is focus, oral gratifications derived from sucking Anal – control and self control, defecation and potty training Phallic – genital stimulation Genital – mature sexual interests through adulthood

Erik Erikson: focuses on social and cultural influences; called psychosocial theory. -8 developmental stages -characterized by a particular development crisis (challenge) related to the person’s relationship to the social environment. -like Freud, proposed stages of development that span a person’s lifetime.

Birth to 1 year = trust vs. mistrust 1-3 years = autonomy vs Birth to 1 year = trust vs. mistrust 1-3 years = autonomy vs. shame & doubt 3-6 years = initiative vs. guilt 7-11 years = industry vs. inferiority

Adolescence = identity vs. role confusion Young adulthood = intimacy vs. isolation Middle adulthood = generativity vs. stagnation Older adulthood = integrity vs. despair

Behaviorism: a major theory in American psychology, which directly opposed psychoanalytic theory. -emerged early in the 20th century -James B. Watson -also called learning theory because of its emphasis on how we learn specific behaviors.

Behaviorists have formulated laws of behavior that are believed to apply at all ages. Learning process is called conditioning: Two forms: -classical -operant

Classical conditioning: -discovered by Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov -also called respondent conditioning -person or animal learns to associate a neutral stimulus with a meaningful one.

According to B.F. Skinner, the learning of more complex responses is the result of operant conditioning, in which a person learns that a particular behavior produces a particular consequence, such as a reward. This type of learning is also called instrumental conditioning.

The process of repeating a consequence to make it more likely that the behavior in question will recur is called reinforcement. The consequence that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated is called the reinforcer.

(Thinking like a scientist) The behavior of infant monkeys separated from their mothers led research Harry Harlow to investigate the origins of attachment in infant monkeys. These studies, which demonstrated that infant monkeys clung more often to “surrogate” mothers that provided contact comfort, disproved psychoanalytic theory’s idea that infants seek to satisfy oral needs and behaviorisms view that reinforcement directs behavior.

Social learning: application of behaviorism by observing others Social learning: application of behaviorism by observing others. The process whereby a child patterns his/her behavior after a parent or teacher, for example, is called modeling. This process is most likely to occur when an observer is uncertain or inexperienced and when the model is admirable and powerful.

This type of learning is also affected by the individual’s nurturing This type of learning is also affected by the individual’s nurturing. Human social learning is related to or similar to the observer: -self-understanding -self-confidence -social reflection -feelings of self-efficacy

Cognitive theory: the structure and development of the individual’s thought processes and the way those thought processes affect the person’s understanding of the world. -Jean Piaget

Piaget’s cognitive stages: Sensorimotor – children experience the world through their senses and motor abilities; stage occurs between birth and age 2. Preoperational – children begin to think symbolically; also sometimes the child’s thinking is egocentric, or focused on seeing the world solely from his or her own perspective; during preschool years (up to age 6)

3) Concrete operational: children begin to think logically in a consistent way; about 7 years of age. 4) Formal operational: reasoning expands from the purely concrete to encompass abstract thinking; most children enter this stage by age 12.

According to Piaget, cognitive development is guided by the need to maintain a state of mental balance, called cognitive equilibrium. When new experiences challenge existing understanding, creating a kind of imbalance, the individual experience cognitive disequalibrium, which eventually leads to mental growth.

According to Piaget, people adapt to new experiences either by reinterpreting them to fit into, or assimilate with, old ideas. Some new experiences force people to revamp old ideas so that they can accommodate new experiences.