Themes and Theories of Human Development

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Themes and Theories of Human Development

• What is a developmental theory?     
• Scientific theory
• Characteristics of a good theory
• Parsimony
• Falsifiability
• Heuristic Value
• Questions and controversies in human development
• Assumptions about human nature
• Original sin
• Innate purity
• Nature versus nurture
• Activity versus passivity
• Continuity versus discontinuity
• Stages of development
• Qualitative/quantitative
• Connectedness of development
• Theories of human development
• Psychoanalytic theory
• Components of personality

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What is a theory

• What is a theory in general?
• A set of concepts or propositions that describe
  and explain some aspect of experience.
• What is a scientific theory?
• A public pronouncement indicating what a
  scientist believes about his or her area specific
  area of investigation
• What are the characteristics of a good theory?
• Parsimony
• Concise, yet able to explain a wide range of
  phenomena
• Falsifiability
• Capable of making explicit predictions
• Heuristic value
• Can be applied to unknown situations and cases

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Question and controversies about human development

• Assumptions about human nature
• Innate purity versus original sin
• Tabula rasa
• Nature versus nurture
• Activity versus passivity
• Continuity of development
• Stages of development
• Quantitative versus qualitative change
• Quantitative changes in degree
• Qualitative changes in kind
• Connectedness of development
• Similarity versus differences

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Continuous versus Discontinuous Development
Continuous Development
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Continuous versus Discontinuous Development
Discontinuous Development
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Question and controversies about human development

• Assumptions about human nature
• Innate purity versus original sin
• Tabula rasa
• Nature versus nurture
• Activity versus passivity
• Continuity of development
• Stages of development
• Quantitative versus qualitative change
• Quantitative changes in degree
• Qualitative changes in kind
• Connectedness of development
• Similarity versus differences

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Theories of child developmentPsychoanalytic
viewpoint

• Sigmund Freuds theory of psychosexual
  development
• Components of the personality
• The Id legislator of the personality
• The Ego executive of the personality
• The Superego judicial branch of the personality
• The theory of psychosexual development
• The oral stage (birth 1 year)
• The anal stage (1 3 years)
• The phallic stage (3 6 years)
• The Oedipus complex
• Latency period (6 12 years)
• The genital stage (12 years on)
• Evaluation of theory

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Theories of child developmentLearning theory
(Behaviorism)

• John B. Watson (1878-1958)
• Classical conditioning
• Association of a neutral stimulus with a
  non-neutral stimulus
• Little Albert
• B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)
• Operant conditioning
• Reinforcers
• Punishment

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Theories of child developmentLearning theory
(Behaviorism)

• Albert Bandura (1925- )
• Modeling and observation learning
• Socio-cognitive theory
• Personal standards and self-efficacy
• Evaluation of learning theories
• Positive
• Major impact on practices with child
• Behavior modification
• Negative
• Downplays importance of biological factors
• Too narrow view of environmental factors
• Underestimates childrens contributions to
  develop

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Theories of child developmentCognitive theories

• Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
• Cognitive Developmental Theory
• Children as constructivists
• Organismic theorist
• Development occurred in stages
• Information-Processing Theory
• Concern with rigor and precision
• Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
• Brings together psychology, biology,
  neuroscience, and medicine
• New methods for analyzing brain activity
• Importance of brain plasticity

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Theories of child developmentEthological and
evolutionary theory

• Niko Timbergen Konrad Lorenz
• (1907 - 1988) (1903 - 1989)
• Ethological Theory
• Imprinting
• Critical and sensitive periods
• Evolutionary Developmental Psychology
• Adaptive value of cognitive, social, and
  emotional competencies
• Interest in genetic, biological, and learning

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Theories of child developmentVygotsky
Bronfenbrenner

• Lev Vygosky (1896-1934)
• Sociocultural theory
• Social interaction and cooperative dialogues
• Emphasis on culture and social experience
• Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005)
• Ecological systems theory
• Bioecological model
• Environmental layers

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Ecological theoryEnvironmental Layers