Child Development Theories

1

• Child Development Theories

2
Why is Childhood Crucial?

• Research has shown that early childhood may be
  the most important life stage for brain
  development.
• A babys brain is about one quarter the size of
  an adults.
• Scientists have found that babies brains develop
  in response to stimulation.
• Arouses senses such as sight, sound, touch,
  taste, and smell.
• Babies who are stimulated develop more quickly
  and have a more secure self-image.

3

• What is a theory?
• A theory should allow us to predict and explain
  human behavior
• It should be stated in such a way that it can be
  shown to be false
• It must be open to scientific investigation

4
Child Development Theorists

• Although researches dont always agree,
  scientific researchers have agreed upon the five
  following general rules.
• Development is similar for each individual
• Development builds upon earlier learning.
• Development proceeds at an individual rate.
• The different areas of development are
  interrelated.
• Development is a lifelong process.

5

• Psychoanalytic Theories
• Freuds Psychosexual Theory
• Personality has 3 parts
• There are 5 stages of psychosexual development
• Oedipus complex allows child to identify with
  same-sex parent
• Fixation is an unresolved conflict during a stage
  of development

6
Freudian Stages
6 yrs to puberty
Birth to 1½ yrs
1½ to 3 yrs
Puberty onward
3 to 6 years
Phallic Stage Childs pleasure focuses on
genitals
Latency Stage Child represses sexual
interest and develops social and intellectual sk
ills
Anal Stage Childs pleasure focuses on
anus
Genital Stage A time of sexual reawakening
source of sexual pleasure becomes
someone outside of the family
Oral Stage Infants pleasure centers on
mouth
Figure 2.1
7

• Eriksons Psychosocial Theory
• There are 8 stages of psychosocial development
• Each has a unique developmental task
• Developmental change occurs throughout life span
• Key points of psychoanalytic theories
• Early experiences and family relationships are
  very important to development
• Unconscious aspects of the mind are considered
• Personality is best seen as a developmental
  process

8
Eriksons Eight Life-Span Stages
Eriksons Stages Developmental Period
Trust vs Mistrust Infancy (first year)
Autonomy vs shame doubt Infancy (1 to 3 years)
Initiative vs guilt Early childhood (3 to 5 years)
Industry vs inferiority Middle and late childhood
Identity vs identity confusion Adolescence (10 to 20 years)
Intimacy vs isolation Early adulthood (20s, 30s)
Generativity vs stagnation Middle adulthood (40s, 50s)
Integrity vs despair Late adulthood (60s onward)
Figure 2.2
9

• Cognitive theories
• Piagets cognitive developmental theory
• Stresses conscious mental processes
• Cognitive processes are influenced by biological
  maturation
• Four stages of cognitive development in children
• Assimilation and accommodation underlie how
  children understand the world, adapt to it, and
  organize their experiences

10
Piagets Four Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor Stage The infant constructs an
understanding of the world by coordinating
sensory experiences with physical actions
progressing from reflexive, instinctual action
at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought
toward end of the stage.
Birth to 2 years of age
Preoperational Stage The child begins to
represent the world with words and images.
These words and images reflect increased
symbolic thinking and go beyond the connection
of sensory information and physical action.
2 to 7 years of age
Concrete Operational Stage The child can now
reason logically about concrete events and
classify objects into different sets.
7 to 11 years of age
Formal Operational Stage The adolescent reasons
in more abstract idealistic and logical ways.
1115 years of age through adulthood
Figure 2.3
11

• Vygotskys sociocultural cognitive theory
• Children actively construct their knowledge
• Social interaction and culture guide cognitive
  development
• Learning is based upon inventions of society
• Knowledge is created through interactions with
  other people and objects in the culture
• Less skilled persons learn from the more skilled
• Information-processing theory
• Compares computers to the human mind
• Thinking is information processing

12
Information-Processing Theory
geography
literature
INPUT
OUTPUT
science
Information is taken into brain
Information is used as basis of behaviors and
interactions
history
religion
Information gets processed, analyzed, and stored
until use
math
13
Banduras Social Cognitive Model
Behavior
Environment
Person (cognitive)
Figure 2.4
14
Banduras Modeling/Imitation
Child observes someone admired
Child imitates behavior that seems rewarded
15

• Urie Bronfenbrenners ecological theory
• Environmental factors influence development
• 5 environmental systems affect life-span
  development
• Eclectic theoretical orientation
• Selects features from other theories
• No one theory has all the answers
• Each theory can make a contribution to
  understanding life-span development

16
Exosystem
Mesosystems
Bronfenbrenners Ecological Theory of Development
Macrosystem
Figure 2.5
17
Observed correlation as permissive parenting
increases, childrens self-control decreases
Permissive parenting
causes
Childrens lack of self-control
Childrens lack of self-control
causes
Permissive parenting
Permissive parenting
Other factors, such as genetic tendencies,
poverty, and sociohistorical circumstances
cause
and
both
Childrens lack of self-control
Possible Explanations for Correlational Data
Figure 2.9
18
Group 1
More playful and sociable
Time playing video games 2 hours each day
Group 2
Time playing video games 6 hours each day
More aggressive and antisocial
19
Other Influences on Development

• Heredity
• Blood type, eye color, and hair color
• Environment
• Children also learn attitudes and beliefs from
  their environments