Chapter 2
Theories of Development
Out line
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DEFINITION
IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPMENTAL THEORIES
SELECTED THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
- Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud)
- Stages of the Life Cycle: A Psychosocial Theory (Erikson)
- Cognitive Theory (Piaget)
- Theory of Language and Culture (Vygotsky)
- Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow)
- Behaviorist Theory (Watson)
- Behaviorist Theory of Personality (Pavlov and Skinner)
- Theory of Moral Development (Kohlberg)
- Development of Self-Image (Cooley and Mead)
- Developmental Tasks of the Older Adult (Havighurst)
- Developmental Stages of Retirement (Atchley(
Objectives
Upon Completion of this chapter, the student will be able to:
1. List theories of personality development.
2. Discuss one behavioral theory of development.
3. Discuss one psychosocial theory of development.
4. Discuss one environmental theory of development.
5. Discuss one cognitive theory of development.
6. Discuss the major forces that influence an adult learner.
7.Discuss how understanding developmental theories can enhance
the ability to teach an individual who may be in a specific stage
of development.
8. List some physiological, cognitive, personality, social, and
emotional changes that occur over the lifespan.
9. Discuss the uniqueness of individual personality and behavior at
each stage of the life cycle.
10. Practice a deeper understanding of self and family.
DEFINITION
A theory is a statement that explains principles that
can predict behavioral development. A theory is based
on research that helps to make observations and facts
meaningful .
Importance of understanding developmental Theories
• Developmental theories focus on changes in physiology,
psychology, and behavior that occur normally at different stages
in the lifespan.
• Help nurses, health care workers, and educators predict
behaviors, as well as responses, at each stage and therefore
understand why adults may behave in certain ways
• Provides a comprehensive understanding of how various life
experiences affect growth and development at each stage of the
life cycle.
• Enables health care workers and educators to effectively
intervene and foster positive physical and mental health care
Selected Theories of Development
Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud)
Sigmund Freud was a psychoanalytic theorist who identified
three interacting parts of a person's psychological
functioning. They are as follows:
1. Id (the unconscious) is present at birth and generates
impulses that seek immediate pleasure and
satisfaction.
2. Ego is a yew of the self or image a person wants to
convey to others.
3. Superego emerges between 3 and 5 years of age, delays
immediate gratification for socially appropriate reasons,
and represents recognition of good and bad. It is also
known as a moral guide or a conscience.
Selected Theories of Development
Freud believed that conflict occurs when society gives mixed
messages, causing the unconscious (id) to produce anxiety,
which rises to the surface (conscious or ego) and become
evident to the individual in his or her feelings and behavior.
Freud described defense mechanisms that protect the ego
by hiding unpleasant feelings from a person's conscious
awareness and serves as a defense against anxiety (Table 1)
Table (1) Defense Mechanisms for Coping
Rationalization
Developing a plausible excuse for unacceptable
behavior.
Repression
"Forgetting" an unpleasant experience.
Projection
Attributing one's thoughts or feelings to another
person.
Displacement
Expressing feelings (often anger) one has about
one person toward another innocent person
Reaction formation Acting just the opposite of what one feels. For
example, acting sure of oneself when one is really
feeling insecure
Regression
Reverting to immature behavior
cont. Table (1)Defense Mechanisms for Coping
Identification
Joining a group so that its positive identity will be
reflected on oneself
Sublimation:
Rechanneling unacceptable impulses into socially
acceptable ones
For example, channeling aggression into playing
football.
.
Freud believed that personality grows, develops, and
changes during the lifespan but experiences in the early
phases of development have a strong impact on the
formation of the adult personality. Freud described
specific stages of psychosexual development (Table 2)
Table (2) FREUD'S STAGES OF PSYCHOSEXUAL
DEVELOPMENT
Stage
Age
Description
Oral
First year of life
Focus is on mouth and the need to suck
Anal
Toddler age
Focus is on learning self-control of bowels (see
Figure (1).
Phallic
Preschool age
Attention is self-centered during this stage.
Some type of masturbation often occurs at
this stage. Child identifies with parent of
opposite sex.* Superego develops at this time.
Latency
School age
Learns to suppress sexual urges and focuses on
industry and achievement of skills.
Genital
Puberty
Deals with sexual urges involving the opposite
sex (mature compared with phallic stage).
Seeks mutual pleasure with a partner.
Toilet training . Learning self- control of bowel and bladder is a developmental
task of toddler. There are many child size potties available, and eventually the
child prefers adult facilities
Oedipus Complex
Freud believed that the Oedipus complex arises during the Phallic
stage of development. Freud suggested that little boys compete
with their father for the mother’s love and attention. During this
stage the boys prefer attention from the opposite sex parent. As
this stage ends, the boy decides to identify with his father and
attention is desired from both parents again. Electra anxiety
occurs when little girls compete with their mother for the love
and attention from their father. At the end of this stage, the little
girl stops competing and identifies with the mother, again desiring
attention from both parents. This occurs at about 5 years of age.
Stages of the life Cycle: A Psychosocial Theory (Erikson)
Erik Erikson's theory describes the parts of personality development
that are dependent on the social environment and social interactions.
Each stage involves a social crisis or task that must be positively
resolved to successfully pass to the next stage. For example, failure to
establish trust with caregivers in the infant stage of development may
affect the later life stage of intimacy, which is based on the ability to
establish trust with another person. Successfully passing through each
of these stages is thought to contribute to the overall development
of the individual personality with unique strengths and weaknesses
table (3).
Table (3)Erikson ‘s Stage of the life cycle
Stage
Age
Positive achievement
Trust vs. mistrust
Infant
Develop trust of others to meet in’s own needs and
as a result begins to trust oneself and others.
Autonomy vs. Shame
and doubt
Toddler
Ability to act independently is equated with
trusting oneself to be good
Initiative vs. guilt
Preschool
Initiate role models and follows rules. Experience
self-control in social interaction
Industry vs. inferiority
School age
Develops ability to make friends and independently
achieve school tasks.
Identity vs . Role
confusion
Adolescent Learns to know oneself and what one believes and
develops a career goal.
Intimacy vs Isolation
Young
adult
Develop an ability to share all aspects of life with
others.
Generatively vs. selfabsorption
Middle
adult
Can contribute to society in a meaningful way
Maintain a sense of life achievement and absence
of deep regret
Cognitive Theory (Piaget(
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who
emphasized cognitive milestones in
development. Piaget get described four stages
of development related to learning to
understand and relate logically to the world
(Table 4).
Table (4). PIAGET'S FOUR STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Birth to 2
years
Gains developmental understanding of object permanence.
Understands cause and effect. Understands differences in time of
day
2 to 7 years Attributes life to inanimate objects.
Child believes he or she is the center of world
Sees only the obvious. Understands only one bit of information
at a time without seeing abstract relationships. Develops
language skills. Uses pretend play. Begins to use logic to
understand rules.
Concrete operations 7 to 11 years Can understand more than one piece of information at a time.
Has a realistic understanding of the world. Focus is on the
present, not the future.
Formal operations
Can think abstractly and understand symbols.
Adolescent Can think in hypothetical terms. Is future oriented. Understands
scientific basis of theories. Cultural practices play a role in
helping adolescent understand "rules" and develop moral sense
of what is right.
Piaget's theory involves sensory and motor interactions
with the environment. An infant learns how to grasp a
block and what relationships it has to the infant's body.
The infant then learns that if he or she drops the block
it will fall down and be out of reach.
Gradually the infant learns that he or she can stack the
blocks on top of each other, and eventually the infant
can use the blocks to build something that represents a
house or other objects in the environment.
Theory of language and Culture (Vygotsky)
Lev Vygotsky believed social and cultural experiences
were necessary for optimum growth and development.
Physiological maturation of the brain enables language
development, which influences how a child thinks and
behaves. His theory suggests that language is a major
force in the growth and development of the personality
(Table 4).
Table (5 ) VYGOTSKY'S LANGUAGE AND DEVELOPMENT THEORY
Age
Verbal Ability
Response of Parents
Infant
Cries and coos
Parent responds to cry by cuddling, provides
toys to stimulate responses.
Toddler
Points at objects
Adult gives names and definitions to objects
the child points at.
Preschool
3 years old
Speaks to self
during play or
movement.
Parents mayor may not listen to all the words.
4 years old
Uses inner speech
to guide behavior
Parents praise the child for demonstrating
delayed gratification or self-control.
School age
Engages in speech
and social
interactions.
Parents who listen to their child understand
the child's interpretation of events and
experiences. Parents allow child to discover
what they can do themselves and with the
help of others
Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow)
Abraham Maslow described a hierarchy of needs.
According to Maslow, if basic needs are met, then the
individual can move to higher levels of thought and selffulfillment.
These needs are described by using a triangle. The base of
the triangle represents the basic physiological needs of
survival. As the sides of the triangle narrow, achievement
of needs at each level allows movement toward a higher
level (Figure 2).
Self-Actualization:
State of Becoming a
complete person’
Fulfilling one’s
Greatest potential
Esteem: Need to respect
oneself and to be respected
by others
LOVE and a feeling of BELONING to
someone or some group
Safety and protection
ACTIVITY: The need for stimulation, novelty, change
PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: Air ,water, food, elimination, rest
Figure (2)Modified Version of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• Once basic needs are met, a person can move toward
self-actualization.
• Self-actualization is the realization of one's own talent
and abilities and the achievement of satisfaction in
life's goals and desires. It is reaching the peak of one's
potential.
• For example, in severe poverty, basic physiological
needs for food and shelter may be unmet.
Behaviorist Theory (Watson
John Watson was known as the father of behaviorism.
He believed the environment and experiences molded the
personality.
Watson's theories are related to Pavlov's conditioning
theory of personality development and Skinner's
operant theory.
Behaviorist Theory of Personality (Pavlov and Skinner)
Ivan Pavlov and B.F Skinner's theories describe learning
and interaction with the environment as the center
of development. This is known as the behaviorist
theory of development. Behaviorists believe that
personality and behavior are learned.
Therefore they believe that there are no identifiable
stages. Each experience helps to mold the adult
personality
Behaviorist Theory of Personality (Pavlov and Skinner
Pavlov developed the theory of classical conditioning.
Conditioning has to do with associating (pairing) things
in the environment.
For example, when an individual eats a food that causes
unpleasant symptom of food poisoning, that individual
may develop an aversion to that food.
Skinner attributed learning to operant conditioning, which
involves behavioral consequences such as reward or punishment.
For example, reinforcing positive behavior with a reward will
eventually develop a regular practice of that behavior. Reward can
be praise, special privileges, or material rewards such as toys,
money, or candy.
These theories are useful in health education because positive
reinforcement of information learned can result in positive health
practices.
Theory of Moral Development (Kohlberg(
Moral reasoning is the development of a set of
social rules that enables a person to
differentiate right from wrong. (Table 6)
Table (6) KOHLBERG/S STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT
Stage
Preconvention
Age
Toddler
conventional
Early childhood
School age
postcnventional Adolescent and
adult
Older adult
Behavior
Obeys rules to avoid
punishments.
Seeks to avoid punishment.
Conforms to rules to gain
recognition or reward.
Rules are followed that lead
others to perceive one as
"good." Develops a sense of
responsibility.
Develops own set of principles
that may overrule social laws
or customs. Is independent.
Development of Self-Image (Cooley and Mead
(
Charles Horton Cooley had a theory called the
looking-glass self.
The theory states hat the self-image is formed through three
steps:
(1) imagining how we portray selves to others.
(2) imagining how others evaluate .
(3) combining these impressions.
Developmental Tasks of the Older Adult (Havighurst(
Robert Havighurst (1974) was a theorist who also
described developmental tasks of late adulthood,
which involve accepting oneself and maintaining
meaning in life.
The older adult's developmental tasks include adjusting
to a decreasing health status, adjusting to decreased
income, adjusting to the death of a spouse, adapting to
changing social roles with peer groups, and adapting to
a changing living arrangement.
Developmental Stages of Retirement (Atchley)
Robert Atchley described developmental stages in the older
adult related to retirement. The five stages described by
Atchley are listed in Table 7.
Table 7 Developmental Stages of Retirement
Stage
Focus
Preretirement
Dreams of retirement
Honeymoon
Enjoys freedom of retirement
Disenchantment Designs new priorities as a result of boredom
Stability
Begins to feel needed and respected
Terminal
Changes because of need for reemployment
or decline in health occur
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