Theories of Social Development

4 theories of social development

psychoanalytic

learning theories

theories of social cognition

ecological theories

psychoanalytic

freud

erikson

Freud’s theory of psychosexual development

behavior is motivated by the need to satisfy basic drives

Id

ego

superego

id

present at birth

unconscious

pleasure principle

goal is achieving maximal gratification as quickly as possible

ego

rational part of personality

seeks resolution between demands of Id and real world

superego

internalized moral standard

guides to avoid actions that would result in guilt

stages

oral

anal

phallic

latency

genital

oral

birth - 1

id

distress associated with hunger > satisfaction of hunger and experience of nursing is source of pleasure

anal

1-3

ego

erotic interests focus on the pleasureable relief of tension derived from defecation

phallic

3-6

superego

interest in their own genitalia and curious about those of caregivers and playmates

latency

6-11

time of relative calm

genital

adolescence

advent of sexual maturation

erikson’s theory of psychosexual development

trust vs mistrust

autonomy vs shame and doubt

initiative vs guilt

industry vs inferiority

identity vs role confusion

trust vs mistrust

birth - 1

basic virtue > hope

key challenge

• establish trust in caregivers

autonomy vs shame and doubt

1-3

basic virtue > will

key challenge > developing a sense of independence and autonomy

initiative vs guilt

3-6

basic virtue > purpose

key challenge > taking initiative in activities and feeling sense of purpose

industry vs inferiority

6-11

basic virtue > competence

key challenge > developing a sense of competence and mastery in skills

identity vs role confusion

adolescence

basic virtue > fidelity

key challenge > forming coherent sense of identity and exploring roles

psychoanalytic contributions

freud > impacts of early relationships - emphasis on early childhood - role of unconscious mental activity

erikson > lifespan view of development - emphasis on adolescence

psychoanalytic criticisms

vague claims (untestable)

no empirical evidence re: long term effects of early conflicts

many specific elements are “highly questionable”

Learning theories

early behaviorism

social learning theory

early behaviorism

John watson

B.F. skinner

Watson

classical conditioning

key to development is child behavior learned though conditioning

watson views of parenting

• advise parents to achieve distance and objectivity in their relations with children

• strict parenting advise

• strict feeding schedules > conditioning eating time

B.F. Skinner

operant conditioning

key to development is child behavior being influenced by outcomes of past behavior

Skinner views of parenting

attention as reinforcer

timeout > withholding attention

consistency of reinforcement

intermittent reinforcement > harder to extinguish

behavior modification

social learning theory

focuses on on social learning > observation, imitation

albert bandura

what you need for observation and imitation

attention

encoding

storing

retrieving

vicarious reinforcement

learning from observing of others’ behaviors

bobo doll experiment

reciprocal determinism

child-environment influences are bidirectional

learning theories contributions

derived from research

precise and testable

evidence from well controlled tests

practical applications > behavior modification, modeling behavior, punishment and rewards

learning theories criticisms

Ignores role of brain > focus on nurture

Oversimplified > only cares about behavior

Ignores changes in and development of cognitive abilities

Ignores ecology > differences in environment

theories of social cognition

believe that children actively process social information

can think and reason about mental processes (both theirs and others)

use self socialization to influence their own development

Dweck’s theory of self-attributions and achievement motivation

achievement motivation > whether they are motivated by learning goals or performance goals

learning goals

seeking to improve competency

mastery oriented approach

attribute to external or unstable factors

ability is incremental

reaction to failure > persistence

performance goals

seeking to receive positive assessments of their competence or to avoid negative assessments

purpose is getting a good evaluation

learned helplessness

attribute success to luck or high effort (unstable)

failure is attribute to low ability (stable) > give up

what influences achievement motivation

learning goals > process oriented praise “i like the way you kept at it”

performance goals > person praise “you are really good at that”

attribution retraining, adjusting curriculum

knowing about others

person perception > the ability to attribute characteristics to others

Age 3-5 aware of how closest peer will behave

5-6 more aware of behavior characteristics

7 - develop more

behavioral comparisons

impressions based on comparing and contrasting people’s overt behaviors

psychological constructs

impressions based on stable traits someone is presumed to have

psychological comparisons

impressions based on comparing and contrasting peoples’ abstract psychological dimensions

Selman’s stage theory of role taking

role taking > ability to adopt another person’s perspective and think about things from another’s point of view

stage 0

egocentric or undifferentiated perspective

3-6

unaware of any perspective other than their own

assume that whatever they feel will be agreed on by others

stage 1

social-informational role taking

6-8

recognize people have different perspectives than them

believe its only because they received different information

stage 2

self-reflective role taking

8-10

know their own and others POV may conflict even if they have received the same information

able to consider another’s viewpoint

recognize others can do so too > able to anticipate the other person’s reactions to their behavior

cannot yet consider their own perspective and another’s at the same time

stage 3

mutual role taking

10 - 12

can simultaneously consider their own and another’s POV and recognize that they can too

can assume the perspective of a disinterested third party and anticipate how each person (self and other) will react to the viewpoint of their partner

stage 4

societal role taking

12-15

adolescent attempts to understand another person’s perspective by comparing it with that of the social system in which they operate

adolescent expects others to consider and typically assume perspectives on events that most people int heir social group would take

Dodge’s information processing theory of social problem solving

emphasized role of social cognition but with focus on aggression as a problem solving strategy

children who have experienced physical abuse are quicker and better at recognizing anger

may lead to hostile attribution bias

witness ambiguous intention with negative outcomes

aggressive children see behavior as hostile

nonaggressive children see behavior as accidental

theories of social cognitions contributions

supported by research

emphasis on children as seekers of social information

insight on how effect of social experiences are impacted by interpretations of them

ecological theories

strong focus on interaction between nature and nurture

children play an active role in their development

inherit genetic abilities and predispositions; adaptive function

have an active role in selecting/influencing contexts determined by children’s personal characteristics

ethology

study of behavior in evolutionary context

imprinting

a form of learning

newborns of some species become attached to adult species members

examples

brain size

play > way of learning about the world

parenting behavior (parenting investment theory)

social anxiety

Brofenbenner’s bioecogological model

the child’s personal characteristics influence social interactions and development

demand characteristics

resource characteristics

force characteristics

microsystems

childs immediate surroundings

contexts in which they are an active member

mesosystem

connections between microsystems

ways in which members of the childs daily life interact

parents x school

parents x friends

exosystems

systems in which the child is not a direct member but that nonetheless impact the child’s life

parents jobs

school board

local government

macrosystems

all encompassing social and cultural factors that shape children’s lives

economy

national politics

cultural norms

media within model

interactions among multiple levels of model can be highlighted through exploring medias impact on development

ecological theories contributions

ethological evolutionary - emphasis on genetic predispositions, highlights connections between humans and other animals

bioecological - considers broach context of development and interaction between levels, practical impliacations

ecological theories criticism

ethological evolutionary - impossible to fully test, ignores role of environment and ability to change environment / self

bioecological - hard to generalize across environments, little to no discussion