Theories

Importance

  • used to describe, explain and predict development

  • directs attention on certain causes/processes/outcomes

  • generates testable hypotheses that are able to be revised when evidence does not support them

  • comparisons allows for recognition of assumptions regarding nature/nurture, continuity, context etc.


Questions To Ask

→ explain? (main unit of development? mechanisms that cause change? development = gradual or stages?)

→ assumptions? (child = active/reactive? interactions of biology & experience? theory regarding cultures & historical periods?)


Biological/Evolutionary Perspectives

cause of development focuses in genes, nervous system, hormones, maturation, physical growth, with evolutionary theories exploring how inherited tendencies helped ancestors survive/reproduce.

gene = one contributor in developmental system !!

→ patterns of inheritance

  • single gene patterns (dom/rec/sex-linked)

  • complex traits (polygenic and multifactorial inheritance)

→ gene regulations

  • epigenetics - environment changing gene expression by chemical tags w/o altering DNA sequence (behavior affects this)

  • gene silencing - regulatory processes preventing gene expression

  • epigenomics - examining epigenetic mark patterns on genome


Genes + Environment

  • passive gene-environment correlation - caregivers providing genes and environments to child

  • evocative correlation - child’s characteristics evoke reactions

  • active correlation - autonomy gained; places that fit interests and dispositions chosen

  • gene x environment interaction - experience effects differs on genotype, genetic effects differ through environments


Biological Patterning

(similar developments despite different environments)

  • maturation - orderly biological clock in DNA regarding body & brain growth sequence

  • canalization - genetic force that keeps humans developing on a typical track, requiring extreme environmental disruption to get it off track

!! plasticity - capacity to change in response to experience


Evolutionary Psychology

  • ethology - study of animal behavior in natural contexts, with emphasis on typical behaviors & adaptive functions

    • critical period: narrow window needed for specific experience to achieve typical development

    • sensitive period: optimal time frame where learning is easiest but still possible later


Overall Limitations/Cautions -

  • reductionistic if social/culture ignored

  • evolutionary explanations = hard to test

  • what evolved isn’t always morally desirable


Psychoanalytic Perspectives

emphasizes motives, emotions, conflicts and processes outside conscious awareness, where early experiences/relationships are influential.

development = inner needs management + response to social expectations/reality


Freud

  • model of personality

    • id - biological drives (instinct) & immediate gratification

    • ego - reality-oriented regulation & delayed gratification

    • superego - moral standards & ideals

    • unconscious - thoughts/wishes/conflicts outside awareness; can influence behavior

    • libido - psychic energy/sexual drive associated with life instincts

    • defense mechanisms - unconscious strategies used by ego to reduce anxiety (e.g. denial)

  • psychosexual stages (pleasure)

    • oral (birth-1yr) - mouth/feeding

    • anal (1-3yr) - elimination (potty training)

    • phallic (3-6yr) - genitals

    • latency (6yr-puberty) - sexual impulses = quiet; learning and peers prevalent

    • genital (adolescence+) - mature sexuality & intimate relationships

unresolved conflict/excess gratification at a stage → fixation


Erikson

  • psychosocial crises

    • infancy - trust vs mistrust

    • toddlerhood - autonomy vs shame & doubt (independence?)

    • early childhood - initiative vs guilt (goals?)

    • middle childhood - industry vs inferiority (skills?)

    • adolescence - identity vs role confusion

    • young adulthood - intimacy vs isolation

    • middle adulthood - generativity vs stagnation (contribution to next generation?)

    • late adulthood - integrity vs despair (acceptance of lived life?)


Humanistic Perspectives

focuses on conscious experience, personal meaning, freedom, growth & potential, supported by relationships & environments that foster authenticity.


Maslow

  • hierarchy of needs

    • self-actualization (personal growth)

    • esteem

    • love & belonging

    • safety needs

    • physiological needs

lower needs should be met first (however, culture affects this)


Limitations

  • self-actualization → broad/difficult to measure

  • optimism about choice changes due to poverty, discrimination etc.


Learning Perspectives

emphasizes accumulated experiences.

explains environmental shaping !!


Conditioning

  • changes behavior → stopping or repeating action

  • classical - where an unconditioned response can become conditioned by conditioning the stimulus (can explain emotional responses)

  • operant - depends on the behavioral consequences

    • reinforcement or punishment

    • positive (addition) or negative (removal) applies to both

    • extinction - gradual elimination of behavior via repeated non-reinforcement

    • shaping needed for learning complex behavior


Cognitive Perspectives

focuses on mental aspects of development such as logic & memory.


Piaget

  • schema - internal cognitive structure that provides procedure for a circumstance, which allow people to use symbols/think logically

    • can be changed via assimilation & accommodation

  • equilibration - creates schemas that fit environment better

  • stages of cognitive development (reorganizes thinking)

    • sensorimotor - birth to 18 months

      • sensory experiences + physical actions

    • preoperational - 18 months to 6 years

      • world + words & images

    • concrete operational - 6-12 years

      • logical reasoning

    • formal operational - 12 years+

      • abstract/idealistic reasoning


Information-Processing Theory

  • how the mind manages information (uses computer as model)

  • information input → transformed → output

  • memory processing

    • encoding → storage → retrieval

    • sensory memory - cont. stream of info; unnecessary info out

    • short-term memory (working memory) - 7 items at a time

    • long-term memory - stores information w/ meaningful associations (unlimited)

    • neo-piagetian theory: piaget’s stages + memory capacity (age matters in how many pieces of information can be held)


Socio-Cognitive Perspectives

  • vygotsky

    • believed complex forms of thinking come from social interaction, not private exploration

    • emphasized assisted discovery

    • scaffolding - structural guidance of learning from an adult/skilled child

      • must fit in zone of proximal development (tasks too difficult alone)

      • attention + strategy + assistance (e.g. teaching someone to read a new word)

  • bandura

    • emphasized observation (where one learns by watching others) + cognition

    • self-efficacy - belief in ability to plan/execute actions needed to complete a goal (knowing what you can/can’t do)

      • develops from observing models

      • can influence persistence


Systems Perspectives

examines interaction between personal & external factors, where systems are capable of change and is seen as a whole.


Bronfenbrenner

  • bioecological theory - development via social/environmental relationships over time

  • microsystem (family, school, religion, neighborhood) → mesosystem (connection between microsystem) → exosystem (socioeconomic institution) → macrosystem (values, belief, ideologies) → chronosystem (life events across time)