Theoretical Perspectives

Theories

Provide a framework for understanding phenomena through explanations and predictions.

Major theoretical perspectives

Psychodynamic, Behavioral, Cognitive, Contextual

Psychodynamic Perspective

Behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts (often stemming from childhood) that a person has little awareness of.

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

Unconscious forces influence behavior.

id

Raw, unorganized personality present at birth.

ego

Buffers between the real world and the id.

superego

Develops at age 5-6 and is learned from adults in one’s life.

Key takeaway of Freud's theory

Explains behavior in terms of internal conflicts and unconscious processes.

Limitations of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory

Little to no empirical support. Questionable generalizability to multicultural populations and women. Work has been criticized for devaluing women.

Jung’s Analytical Psychology

The Role of the Unconscious. Individuation: reconciliation of the conscious and unconscious to become fully oneself. Personality Typing.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory

Development is divided into 8 stages, each involving a psychosocial crisis that affects personality development.

Erikson's Psychosocial Stages 1-4

Trust vs. Mistrust (Infancy: 0-1\;\text{year}), Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (Early Childhood: 1-3\;\text{years}), Initiative vs. Guilt (Preschool: 3-6\;\text{years}), Industry vs. Inferiority (School Age: 6-12\;\text{years}).

Erikson's Psychosocial Stages 5-8

Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence: 12-18\;\text{years}), Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young Adulthood: 18-40\;\text{years}), Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle Adulthood: 40-65\;\text{years}), Ego Integrity vs. Despair (Late Adulthood: 65+\;\text{years}).

Limitations of Erikson's Psychosocial Theory

Difficult to test. Based on men (historical bias in data).

Psychoanalysis in Therapeutic Practice

Considered by some to be out of date. Still remains in many people’s view of therapy. Integrated with other theories.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Categorizes individuals into one of 16 personality types across 4 dimensions.

Behavioral Perspectives

Focus on observable behavior and stimuli in the environment.

Core approaches of Behavioral Perspectives

Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Social-Learning Theory.

Classical Conditioning

John B. Watson argued that by controlling a person’s environment, virtually any behavior could be produced. Used to explain how we learn emotional responses.

John B. Watson

Argued that by controlling a person’s environment, virtually any behavior could be produced, associated with Classical Conditioning.

Operant Conditioning

A voluntary response is strengthened or weakened depending on its association with positive or negative consequences. Used for behavior modifications (BF Skinner).

Social-Learning Theory

Learning through imitation and modeling.

Alfred Bandura

Key figure in Social-Learning Theory; famous Bobo Doll experiment demonstrating observational learning.

The Cognitive Perspective

Focus on processes of cognition: how people understand the world around them and internally represent their environment.

Major components of Cognitive Perspective

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, Information Processing Approaches, Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Development occurs through a series of universal stages.

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor (0-2 years), Preoperational (2-7 years), Concrete Operational (7-11 years), Formal Operational (11+ years).

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2)

Know the world through movements and sensations; learn through actions such as sucking, grasping, looking, listening; object permanence develops; realize they are separate beings; actions cause things to happen.

Preoperational Stage (2-7)

Symbolic thinking; language development; egocentrism; difficulty taking others’ perspectives (limited theory of mind); thinking remains concrete; conservation of mass emerges but is not fully developed.

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11)

Think logically about concrete events; understand conservation (e.g., liquid amount equivalence across containers); thinking becomes logical and organized, though still tied to concrete contexts; begin using inductive logic from specific information to general principles.

Formal Operational Stage (11+)

Think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems; develop moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political reasoning; use deductive logic from general principles to specific information.

Pros of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Supported by thousands of experiments; stage sequence appears accurate.

Cons of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Some skills emerge earlier than Piaget proposed; not universal; development may not be fully continuous.

Information-Processing Approaches

Aim to understand how individuals take in, use, and store information. Emerged from computer science concepts; assume limited processing capacity and improvement with age.

Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches

Look at development through the brain: what neural activity underlies cognitive behavior. Represent a new frontier in psychology.

Contextual Perspectives

Focus on the relationship between physical, cognitive, and social worlds; emphasize environmental influence on development.

Core theories of Contextual Perspectives

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model.

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Development arises from social interactions. Children learn about the world through interaction with others, including adults and peers. Adults scaffold children’s ability to execute tasks, gradually transferring responsibility.

Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model

Emphasizes the role of environmental systems and their interactions with the individual. Visualized as nested systems that influence development.

Key components of Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model

Chronosystem, Macrosystem, Exosystem, Mesosystem, Microsystem.

Chronosystem

Environmental changes that occur over the life course.

Macrosystem

Attitudes and ideologies of the culture.

Exosystem

Extended family and neighbors; external settings that indirectly affect development.

Mesosystem

Connections across microsystem contexts (e.g., family–school interactions).

Microsystem

Immediate environments (Family, School, Health services, Peers).