Developmental Theories

Qualities of a theory

1. parsimonious (Hypothesis that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities while still sufficiently answering the question)

2. internally consistent (no big problems within the theory)

3. falsifiable (are the explanations testable?)

4. supported (several areas of information)

Reaction to these statements

Hobbes- children need control because they are bad and selfish

Rousseau- children are good & intuitive, but can be ruined by society

Locke- children neither good or bad, but merely blank slates (tabula rasa)

Historical debates

nature- heredity, genetics, biological predisposition, species specific development, an organisms biological inheritance, what happens and how you react to them

nurture- environment, family culture, historical events, learning, social milieu, environmental experiences- something that happened to the child

lifespan development

field of study that examines patters of growth, change, and stability in behavior that occur through out the entire life span

scope of lifespan development

physical, cognitive, personality, social

physical development

emphasizes how brain, nervous system, muscles, sensory capabilities, needs for food, drink, and sleep affect behavior

cognitive development

emphasizes intellectual abilities, including learning, memory, problem solving, and intelligence

personality and social development

emphasizes enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another, and how interactions with others and social relationships grow and change over the lifetime

psychology considers beings

universality- how we are alike (commonalities)

context-specific- how we are unique (individual differences)

major theories

1. psychoanalytic- freudian, neo-freudian

2. learning- skinner, watson, bandura

3. cognitive-development- piaget

4. contextual- bronfenbrenner

psychoanalytic theory

A theory developed by Freud that attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior (instincts vs unconscious motivation)

structures of the mind

id-seeks pleasure, wants needs met, immediate gratification (babies)

ego-attempts to gratify need in reality, problem solves (3/4/5)

superego-internalized moral values & beliefs

psychosexual stages of personality development

oral stage

anal stage

phallic stage

latency period

genital stage

oral stage (0-1.5 years)

erogenous zone in focus- mouth

in sufficient and forceful feeding can result in fixation in this stage

symptoms of oral fixation- smoking, constantly chewing gum, nail biting, overeating, drinking, sarcasm (biting personality and verbal hostility)

anal stage (1.5 years to 3 years)

erogenous zone in focus- anus

anal-expulsive personality: if parents are too lenient and fail to instill the society's roles about bowel movement control, child will derive pleasure and success from the expulsion

-symptoms - excessively sloppy, disorganized, reckless, careless, and defiant

anal-retentive personality: if a child receives excessive pressure and punishment during toilet training, child experiences anxiety over bowel movements and takes pleasure in being able to withhold such functions

-symptoms- excessively clean and orderly, intolerant of those who aren't, careful, stingy, withholding, obstinate, meticulous, conforming and passive-agressive

phallic stage (4-5 years)

erogenous zone in focus- genital

gratifying activities- masturbation and genital fondling

interaction with environment- most challenging stage, child's feeling of attraction for the parent of opposite sex, together with envy and fear of the same-sex parent

boys- oedipus complex

girls- electra complex

phallic fixation in men

anxiety and guilt feelings about sex, fear of castrations, and narcissistic personality

phallic fixation in women

implies that women never progress pass this stage fully and maintain a sense of envy and inferiority, although freud asserted no certainty regarding women's possible fixations resulting from this stage

latency stage (5-puberty)

erogenous zone in focus- none

sexual feelings are suppressed to allow children to focus their energy on other aspects of life, time of learning and adjusting to the social environment outside of home, absorbing culture, forming beliefs and values, developing same-sex friendships, engaging in sports

genital stage (puberty+)

erogenous zone in focus: genital

gratifying activities: masturbation and sexual

relationships

fixations: This stage does not cause any fixation.

According to Freud, if people experience difficulties at this stage, and many people do, the damage was done in earlier oral, anal, and phallic stages. These people come into this last stage of development with fixations from earlier stages.

ego defense mechanisms

-denial (arguing by saying It doesn't exist)

-displacement (taking out impulse on lesser target)

-intellectualism (avoid emotions by intellectual aspects)

-projection (place impulses in yourself onto others)

-rationalization (stating rational reason rather than real reason)

-reaction formation (taking opposite belief bc real belief causes anxiety)

-regression (returning to previous stage of development)

-repression (pulling into unconscious)

-sublimation (acting out unacceptable impulses in socially appropriate ways)

-suppression (pushing into unconscious)

Freud's Conception of the Human Psyche

Conscious

Preconscious - Superego

Ego

Unconscious - Id

erikson and freud

freud's stages are psychosexual whereas erikson's are psychosocial

Erikson's Eight Stages of Psychosocial Development

epigenetic principle- development occurs by predetermined unfolding of personalities in eight stages

progress is partially determined by our success, or lack of success, in all the previous stages

developmental tasks

optimal time for each task

if a stage is successfully managed persons carry away at a certain virtue or psychosocial strength

if a stage is not as well managed, maladaptations and malignancies that can endanger all our future development may emerge

malignancies

the worse of the two, and involves too little of the positive and too much of the negative aspect of this task, such as a person who can't trust others

maladaptation

not quite as bad and involves too much of the positive and too little of the negative, such as a person who trusts too much

Stage 1- infancy (0-1)

trust vs. mistrust- infants depend on others for food, warmth, and affection, and therefore must be able to blindly trust the parents for providing those

positive outcome- if needs are met consistently and responsively by the parents, infants not only will develop a secure attachment with the parents but will learn to trust their environment in general as well

negative outcome- if not, infant will develop mistrust towards people and things in their environment, even towards themselves

Stage 2- toddler (1-2)

autonomy vs shame and doubt- learn to walk, talk, use toilets, do things for them self, self control and self confidence begin to develop

positive outcome- if parents encourage their child's use of initiative and reassure when they make mistakes, the child will develop confidence needed to cope with future situations that require choice, control, and independence

negative outcome- if parents are overprotective or disapproving of the child's acts of independence, they may begin to feel ashamed of their behavior or have too much doubt of their abilities

Stage 3- early childhood (2-6)

initiative vs guilt- children have newfound power as they have developed motor skills and become more engages in social interactions around them, they now must learn to achieve a balance between eagerness for more adventure and more responsibility, and learning to control impulses and childish fantasies

positive outcome- if parents are encouraging, but consistent in discipline, children will learn to accept without guilt, that certain things are not allowed, but at the same time will not feel shame when using their imagination or make-believe roles

negative outcome- if not, children may develop a sense of guilt and may come to believe that it is wrong to be independent

Stage 4- elementary and middle school years (6-12)

competence (industry) vs inferiority- School is the most important event at this stage, children learn to make things, use tools, and acquire the skills to be a worker and a potential provider, and they do all these while making the transition from the world of home into the world of peers

positive outcome- if children can discover pleasure in intellectual stimulation, being productive, seeking success, they will develop a sense of competence

negative outcome- if not, they will develop a sense of inferiority

Stage 5- adolescence (12-18)

identity vs role confusion- this is the time when we ask the question "Who am I?", to successfully answer this question, Erikson suggests, the adolescent must integrate the healthy resolution of all earlier conflicts. Did we develop a sense of trust? Do we have a strong sense of independence, competence, and feel in control of our lives?, Adolescents who have successfully dealt with earlier conflicts are ready for the "identity Crisis", which is considered by Erikson as the single most significant conflict a person must face

positive outcome- if the adolescent solves this conflict successfully, he will come out of this stage with a strong identity and ready to plan for the future

negative outcome- if not, the adolescent will sink into the confusion unable to make choices especially about vocation, sexual orientation, and his role in life in general

Stage 6- young adulthood (19-40)

intimacy vs isolation- the most important events are love relationships, no matter how successful you are with your work, said Erikson, you are not developmentally complete until you are capable of intimacy, an individual who has not developed a sense of identity usually will fear a committed relationship and retreat into isolation

positive outcome- adult individuals can form close relationships and share with others if they have achieved a sense of identity

negative outcome- if not, they will fear commitment, feel isolated and unable to depend on anybody in the world

Stage 7- middle adulthood (40-65)

generativity vs stagnation- by "generativity" Erikson refers to the adult's ability to look outside oneself and care for others through parenting, for instance, Erikson suggested that adults need children as much as children need adults, and that this stage reflects the need to create a living legacy

positive outcome- people can solve this crisis by having and nurturing children or helping the next generation in other ways

negative outcome- if this crisis is not successfully resolved, the person will remain self centered and experience stagnation later in life

Stage 8- late adulthood (65 to death)

integrity vs despair- old age is time for reflecting upon one's life and its role in the big scheme of things, and seeing it filled with pleasure and satisfaction or disappointments and failures

positive outcome- if adult has achieved a sense of fulfillment about life and a sense of unity within himself with others, there is acceptance of death with a sense of integrity, just as the health child will not fear life, said Erikson, the healthy adult will not fear death

negative outcome- if not the individual will despair and fear death

Behavioral theory (Watson)

Behaviorism- use of reinforcement methods to change learners' behaviors

Child = Tabular Rosa

- Unconditioned stimulus > response

- UC < Conditioned Stimulus > response

- CS > response

- Pairing UC to CS

conditioning of dog

- UC stimulus (food) -> UC response (salivation)

- UC-> (bell) -> UC

- Multiple pairings

- Conditioned stimulus (bell) -> Conditioned response (salivation)

classical conditioning

- Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist trained in biology and medicine

- Studying the digestive system of dogs

- Dogs deprived of food began to salivate when one of his assistants walked into the room

- Established the laws of classical conditioning

Respondent conditioning

Skinner renamed this type of learning "respondent conditioning" since in this type of learning, one is responding to an environmental antecedent

o Stimulus = environmental event

o Response = action = behavior = overt behavior = conditioning = learning

o Antecedent = a stimulus occurring "before" a response

o Reflexive = involuntary (e.g., involuntary responses cannot be consciously stopped once they start)

o Innate = born

o Elicits = causes (to bring forth)

B.F.Skinner

Operant conditioning

-Instrumentalism behavior is more likely due to positive reinforcement

Punishment

-Makes behavior less likely to occur

Negative reinforcement

-Removal of negative behavior increases the likelihood of behavior occurring

Operant Conditioning (Skinner)

(S > R > S)

- Concept that responses cannot occur without an environmental event (e.g., an antecedent stimulus) preceding it.

- Antecedent stimulus does not elicit or cause the response, it can influence it.

- Antecedent influences the likelihood of a response occurring

- Called a discriminative stimulus.

- Stimulus following a voluntary response (i.e., the response's consequence) changes the probability of whether the response is likely or unlikely to occur again.

- Consequences:

o Positive (sometimes called pleasant) and

o Negative (sometimes called aversive)

o Added to or taken away from the environment changes probability of a given response reoccurring

reinforcement schedules

Continuous reinforcement (behavior is followed by a consequence each time it occurs)

- Intermittent schedules

o Interval schedules (based either on the passage of time)

o Ratio schedules (based on the number of correct responses emitted)

- Consequences can be

o Fixed (based on the same amount of passage of time or the same number of correct responses)

o Variable (it could be based on slightly different amount of time or number of correct responses that vary around a particular number)

o This results in four classes of intermittent schedules.

fixed-ratio schedule

o First response made after a given number of responses have been in the presence of the discriminative stimulus is reinforced.

o For example on an FR 10 schedule every 10th response is reinforced.

o Used car dealer gets a $1000 bonus for each 10 cars sold on the lot.

fixed-interval schedule

o First response made after a given time interval is reinforced. For example, on an FI 20 sec. schedule the first response made after 20 seconds from the onset of the discriminative stimulus is reinforced

o The discriminative stimulus would normally then be turned off during the period the animal consumes its reinforcer.

variable-ratio schedule

o Similar to FR except that the number of responses varies between reinforcements

o On a VR 15 schedules 15 responses are required per reinforcer on average, but one reinforced may only require 3 responses while the next is obtained after 22 responses.

variable-interval schedule

o Similar to the FI except the interval requirements vary between reinforces around some specified average time.

operant conditioning

- Emitted (voluntary) perform or do something.

- Consequent or consequences = a stimulus occurring "after" a response that changes the probability the response will occur again

- Response cost - if positive reinforcement strengthens a response by adding a positive stimulus, then response cost has to weaken a behavior by subtracting a positive stimulus. After the response the positive reinforcer is removed which weakens the frequency of the response.

- Extinction - no longer reinforcing a previously reinforced response (using either positive or negative reinforcement) results in the weakening of the frequency of the response.

o Behaviors will increase before disappearing completely.

o Have to be consistent.

extinction burst

- Withholding reinforcement from a previously reinforced behavior.

o Like a child reacting when you no longer reinforce a behavior they want reinforced.

Social learning theory

- Cognitive process

o Increases or decreases the likelihood of behavioral response

- Observational learning

o Modeling behavior of others

- Reciprocal determinism

o Interaction among people, person's behavior, and environment

o Albert bandura (1977)

Bandura & social learning

- Observational learning

o Model's characteristics/Watching someone

o Rewarded for behavior/Rewarded for copying a behavior?

o May acquire without performing/Sometimes you are not yet able to do it. (tall enough, strong enough)

observational learning requires

- Attention

o Must pay attention to what is occurring

- Retention

o Remember the behavior

- Production

o Be able of reproducing behavior

- Motivation

o Have a reason to reproduce behavior

cognitive development

- Piaget

o Intelligence (cognitive skill) is a developmental process

o Starting with 0 to the end of adolescence

- Constructivism

o Children construct new schemas based on their changing views and perspectives

o Schema is a structure or organizational pattern into which we organize our learning

adaptation

- Adaptation

o All living things adapt to environmental stimuli

- Assimilation

o Fitting new information into an existing schema or framework

- Accommodation

o Developing, changing, or revising schema because of new experience

- Equilibrium

o State of homeostasis in which schemas explain the world, always want this stage. Everything makes sense here

- Disequilibrium

o Schemas are not sufficient enough to explain experience

cognitive development stages (Piaget)

sensorimotor

preoperational

concrete operational

formal operational

Sensorimotor stage (0-2)

o Simple reflexive behavior gives way to ability to form schemas (beginnings of symbolic thought)

o Six stages of development:

1. Reflexive stage (0-2 months)

2. Primary Circular Reactions (2-4 months)

3. Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months)

4. Coordination of Secondary Reactions (8-12 months)

5. Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months)

6. Invention of New Means through mental combination (18-24 months)

Pre-operational stage (2-7 years)

o Use of symbolic thought and development of the imagination

o Applying new knowledge of language, the child begins to use symbols to represent objects

o Oriented to the present the child has difficulty conceptualizing time

Preoperational Phase (2-4 years)

· Transudative reasoning thinking of something without the object being present by use of language.

Intuitive phase (4-7 years)

· Speech becomes more social and child has intuitive grasp of logical concepts in some areas

concrete operational stage (7 to 11+)

o Capable of true logical thought about physical operations; able to perform operations - conserve, reverse, and consider all physical factors

o Ability to think abstractly

o Make rational judgement about concrete or observable phenomena

Conservation

· Quantity remains the same regardless of appearance changes

· Preoperational child sees spatial differences as size differences

· 7-8 year old

o Conservation of substance

· 9-10 year old

o Conservation of area and mass

Formal operational stage (11 to 12+)

o Ages 11 to 12+

o Able to think hypothetically and abstractly

o Generates abstract propositions, multiple hypotheses and their possible outcomes is evident

o Thinking becomes less tied to concrete reality

o Formal logical systems can be acquired

o Can handle proportions, algebraic manipulation, other purely abstract processes

o Prepositional logic as -if and if-then steps

Vygotsky's cultural theory

- Development is process that begins at birth and continues till death

- Zone of proximal development

o Gap or difference between what the child can learn unaided and what he or she can learn with the help of an adult

- His idea based on idea that language is a critical factor in development. Language is the first thing we use to communicate with others. This process is a lifelong development.

Vygotsky egocentric speech

o Speech on its way inward, talking to yourself, talking your way through something

o Instead of fading away as Piaget believed, it went "underground" to become inner speech

o A form of language spoken to oneself that Vygotsky identified with the pure thought of adults

o Egocentric speech partially social

o Child's primitive efforts to remain in contact with other people

§ The way we acquire and hold onto knowledge.

§ People start remembering things long term at ages 4-7

Vygotsky

- Language and thought are of independent origins

- Emphasized that existence of intellect occurring before or without speech

- Speech

o Non-egocentric utterances are social and communicative

o Egocentric utterances are individual and self-regulating (occur when the child capable of organized reasoning).

§ Similar to the act of counting on one's fingers - an external process that will eventually be internalized

- Vygotsky concluded that:

o "Thought development is determined by language, i.e. by the linguistic tools of thought and by socio-cultural experience of the child."

Speech (vygotsky)

- Most significant moment in course of intellectual development, which gives birth to purely human forms of practical and abstract intelligence, two previously completely independent liens of development converge. (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 24)

Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky)

- Scaffolding

o Children perform better and solve more difficult problems when they were guided and supported by another competent individual

- Potential developmental level

o Level of competence without guidance from another person

Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner)

- Urie Bronfenbrenner (April 29, 1917 - September 25, 2005( was a Russian American Psychologist known for developing his ecological systems theory, and as cofounder of the Head Start program for disadvantages pre-school children.

Developmental contextualism (bronfenbrenner)

o Context

o Reciprocal interactions

-Physical setting

-Social influence

-Personal characteristics

-Influence of time

Microsystem (Bronfenbrenner)

o Direct and most interactions occur with social agents, constructs this setting.

o Individual lives

- Family

- Neighborhood

- Extended family

- Peers

- School

o Smallest

Mesosystem (Bronfenbrenner)

o Interconnections with other microsystems

o Family experiences to school experiences

o School experiences to church experiences

- For example, children whose parents have rejected them may have difficulty developing positive relationships with teachers

Exosystem (Bronfenbrenner)

o Experiences in extended settings where individual does not have active role

o Friends of family

o Mass media

o Neighbors

o Legal services

- For example, a husband's experience at home may be influenced by the wife's experience at work. The mother might receive a promotion meaning more travel, causing conflict with the husband

Macrosystem (Bronfenbrenner)

o Culture you live in

o Behavior patterns

o Belief system

o Generational group patterns

Chronosystem (Bronfenbrenner)

o Patterning of environmental events and transitions over life course

o Socio-historical conditions

o 2008 women focus on career