Theories

Theories 

  • There is no single accepted way to define middle childhood or adolescence. 

  • Different boundaries depending on your perspective. 

  • Practical Application: Laws regarding personal responsibility 

  • No single theory can explain it all 

Middle Childhood: 6-10 years old 

Adolescence: 10-18 years old  

Do we change? 

  • Stability vs change 

How do we change? 

  • Describing change over time 

Why do we change? 

  • Explaining interpersonal variability 

G. Stanley Hall 

- Theory of Recapitulation (Biological) 

  • Adolescence storm and stress- believed this due to biology 

  • The development of the individual paralleled the development of the human species. 

  • Infancy was equivalent to primitive, adolescences- civilization 

  • Hormones- unavoidable- raging hormones describe teenagers 

Adolescence as a cultural invention 

  • Environmental, historical time and context- ex. Romeo and Juliet...adults...adolescence wasn’t considered during some time periods 

Benedict & Mead 

  • Mead- Adolescence around the world, development is a culturally defined experience (cultural) 

  • Ex. American Samoa- not as stressful, may be due to difference in culture, reproduction was not private and was talked about  

  • Ex. Cultural variation in menstrual taboos 

Social Learning Theory 

  • Behavior is learned through experiences with others.  

  • Modeling: Imitation of others’ behavior 

  • Consequences: Learning appropriate behavior from feedback 

  • Reinforcement: More likely to occur again 

  • Punishment: Less likely to occur again 

  • Includes biological and environmental components  

  • Example: mirror neurons: activated when we observe what someone is doing something, help with abstract thinking, memory, and planning when doing something 

Ecological Theory  

  • Bidirectional relationships that shape the individuals and by the individual 

  • Individual- genes, intrinsic motivation, disorders 

  • Microsystem- immediate environment- family, teachers, peers 

  • Mesosystem- interactions between microsystems 

  • Family <-> Teacher 

  • Peers <-> Neighborhood 

  • Exosystem- affect us, but we don’t play an immediate role- school, government (legal systems, politics, social services)  

  • Macrosystem- Cultural and Social Context- religion, cultural attitudes or ideologies 

  • Chronosystem- Historical Context