Developmental Theories and Milestones

Developmental Milestones and Theories of Infancy ($0$ to $12$ months)

• Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage

  • Infants learn about the world primarily through their five senses, physical interactions, and activity.

  • Developmental tasks include learning basic shapes, textures, and the concept of object permanence.

  • Learning occurs through tactile exploration (touching and grasping), auditory input (hearing), and oral exploration (‘tasting’) of objects.

• Erickson’s Trust vs. Mistrust

  • The primary goal is for the infant to develop a fundamental sense of trust in themselves, in other people, and in the world around them.

• Freud’s Oral Stage

  • Focuses on oral gratification, specifically through activities like sucking and biting.

• Mahler’s Separation-Individuation Theory

  • Normal Autistic Phase ($Birth$ to $4$ weeks): The initial stage of life.

  • Normal Symbiotic Phase ($4$ weeks to $5$ months): The second stage of early development.

  • First sub-phase: Differentiation ($5$ to $10$ months): The beginning of the separation-individuation process.

• Bowlby’s Attachment Theory

  • Comprised of four stages:

    1. Pre-Attachment.

    2. Attachment in the making.

    3. Clear cut attachments.

    4. Reciprocal relationships.

• Ainsworth’s Attachment Theory

  • Derived from the "Strange Situation" experiment.

  • Identified three primary attachment styles: Secure, Ambivalent, and Avoidant.

Developmental Milestones and Theories of Toddlerhood ($12$ months to $3$ years)

• Piaget’s Preoperational Stage

  • Toddlers develop understanding through symbolic means, such as words and images.

  • Learning is driven by their own actions, thoughts, and feelings.

  • Characterized by a lack of logical thinking.

  • Egocentrism: Defined as the inability to perceive reality from any point of view other than one's own.

• Erickson’s Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

  • Toddlers strive to develop a sense of independence and self-control.

• Freud’s Anal Stage

  • Focuses on bowel pleasure, toilet training, and the concept of control.

• Mahler’s Separation-Individuation (Continued)

  • Differentiation: Continues up to $16$ months.

  • Second sub-phase: Practicing ($10$ to $16$ months): Exploring the environment with increasing physical mobility.

• Vygotsky’s Social Learning Theory

  • Emphasizes the importance of interactions with peers and adults in advancing a child’s knowledge.

  • Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): The difference between what a child can do independently versus what they can accomplish with effective guidance.

  • Scaffolding: A teaching and guidance method that enables children to learn more within their ZPD.

Developmental Milestones and Theories of Preschool Age ($3$ to $5$ years)

• Erickson’s Initiative vs. Guilt

  • Children begin to assert power and control over their world.

  • The goal is to develop a balance between spontaneity and restraint.

• Freud’s Phallic Stage

  • Characterized by genital awareness and a love-hate relationship dynamic with the same-sex parent.

• Mahler’s Separation-Individuation (Continued)

  • Third sub-phase: Rapprochement ($16$ to $24$ months): A period of increased awareness of separateness from the mother.

• Skinner’s Social Learning Theory

  • Operant Conditioning: Behavior that is reinforced is likely to be repeated, while behavior that is punished is less likely to occur.

  • Associated with the "Skinner Box" experiment.

• Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

  • Proposes that children learn through observation and modeling.

  • Famous for the "Bobo doll" experiment.

Developmental Milestones and Theories of School-Age Children ($5$ to $12$ years)

• Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage

  • Children begin to think logically and empathetically.

  • Learning is still most effective through direct experiences.

  • Key developments: understanding other people’s feelings and perspectives; understanding patterns, reversibility, and cause-effect relationships.

• Erickson’s Industry vs. Inferiority

  • Children develop a sense of self-confidence and competence through successful experiences in school, activities, and with friends.

• Freud’s Latency Stage

  • Focus shifts to same-sex friendships with very few opposite-sex friends.

• Mahler’s Separation-Individuation (Final Phase)

  • Fourth sub-phase: Object Constancy ($24$ to $36$ months): Developing the internal representation of the caregiver.

• Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory

  • Environmental and societal influences shape development through five systems:

    1. Individual

    2. Microsystem

    3. Mesosystem

    4. Exosystem

    5. Macrosystem

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

  • People are motivated by a hierarchy where lower-level needs must be met before higher-level needs.

  • The pyramid order: Physiological → Safety → Love → Self-esteem → Self-actualization.

Developmental Milestones and Theories of Adolescence ($12$ to $18$ years)

• Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage

  • Involves abstract thinking and the ability to understand different perspectives.

  • Adolescents can imagine hypothetical situations and scenarios.

  • Cognitive tools include logic, deductive reasoning, comparison, and classification.

• Erickson’s Identity vs. Role Confusion

  • Adolescents focus on developing a sense of self and personal identity through exploration.

• Freud’s Genital Stage

  • Focuses on intimate relationships and sexual attraction.

Moral Reasoning Theories

• Kohlberg’s Moral Reasoning Theory

  • Level 1: Pre-conventional

    • Stage 1: Obedience and Pleasure.

    • Stage 2: Individualism, Instrumentalism, and Exchange.

  • Level 2: Conventional

    • Stage 3: Good Boy/Good Girl.

    • Stage 4: Law and Order.

  • Level 3: Post-conventional

    • Stage 5: Social Contract.

    • Stage 6: Principled Conscience.

• Coles’ Moral Reasoning Theory ($1929$-)

  • Argues the behavior of parents and school peers shapes the moral character of children.

  • Learning primarily occurs through life stories.

• Gilligan’s Moral Reasoning Theory ($1936$-)

  • Identified gender-based orientations in moral development:

    • Male: Justice orientation.

    • Female: Responsibility orientation.

Intellectual and Learning Theories

• Howard Gardner: Intellectual Development (Multiple Intelligences)

  • Believed humans possess nine different intelligences used for learning:

    1. Verbal/Linguistic.

    2. Logical/Mathematical.

    3. Visual/Spatial.

    4. Musical/Rhythmic.

    5. Body/Kinesthetic.

    6. Naturalist.

    7. Intrapersonal.

    8. Interpersonal.

    9. Existential.

• Gesell: Nature vs. Nurture

  • Argued development occurs in an orderly sequence determined by heredity.

  • Normative approach: Identifying typical "norms" for developmental milestones.

  • Growth Gradients: Ten major gradients based on motor development, language development, adaptive behavior, and personal-social behavior.

• Locke: Blank Slate

  • Children enter the world with an empty mind; knowledge is received via experience and converted to understanding through reasoning.

• Montessori: Intellectual Development

  • Key components:

    • Independence: Allow the child to choose.

    • Observation: Watch how children enjoy themselves to learn what they need.

    • Following the child: Adopting a non-directive approach.

    • Correcting the child: Avoiding yelling for unintentional mistakes.

    • Prepared environment: The adult's role is to construct the learning environment.

    • Absorbent mind: A prepared environment allows the child to absorb learning through experience.

Play and Play Therapy Theories

• Parten’s Stages of Play

  • Solitary ($0$ to $2$ years): Playing alone.

  • Spectator ($2$ to $2.5$ years): Observing other children play.

  • Parallel ($2.5$ to $3$ years): Playing next to each other without sharing.

  • Associate ($3$ to $4$ years): Playing the same game without working together.

  • Cooperative ($4$ to $6$ years): Learning and playing with peers using social skills to interact.

• Axline’s Principles of Play Therapy

  1. Develop a warm and friendly relationship.

  2. Accept the child exactly as they are.

  3. Establish a feeling of permission in the relationship.

  4. Reflect back the feelings the child expresses.

  5. Respect the child’s ability and responsibility for choice and change.

  6. The child leads the way; the therapist follows.

  7. Do not hurry the therapy.

  8. Establish only the limitations necessary to anchor the therapy to reality.

• Csikszentmihalyi’s Motivation Play Theory of Flow ($1990$)

  • Definition: Full engagement in an enjoyable activity.

  • Eight criteria for Flow:

    1. Activity provides a challenge.

    2. Individual is completely absorbed.

    3. Has clear goals.

    4. Clear and consistent feedback.

    5. Individual feels in control.

    6. Self-consciousness disappears.

    7. Unawareness of time.

    8. (The activity is intrinsically rewarding).

• Prugh’s Theory of Stress Vulnerability

  • Children prefer hospitals with cheerful surroundings to reduce difficulties in adaptation.

  • Associated with the development of play therapy.

• Lazarus and Folkman

  • Proposed the Stress and Coping theory.