Theories of Development
Chapter 2
Theories
 Help to organize a huge body of info
 Help to focus our search for new
understandings
 Help us to explain how findings
might be interpreted
 Help to identify major disagreements
among scholars
The Psychoanalytic Approach
1
Sigmund Freud
Structures of the Mind
The Developing Personality
Psychosocial Crises and Development
2
Erik Erikson
Erikson’s Eight Psychosocial Stages
Stage One: Infancy
Age: 0 to 1 years old
Crisis: Trust vs. Mistrust
Erikson’s Eight Psychosocial Stages
Stage Two: Early Childhood
Age: 2 to 3 years old
Crisis: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
Erikson’s Eight Psychosocial Stages
Stage Three: Preschool Children
Age: 3 to 5 years old
Crisis: Initiative vs. Guilt
Erikson’s Eight Psychosocial Stages
Stage Four: Middle Childhood
Age: 6 to 12 years old
Crisis: Industry vs. Inferiority
Erikson’s Eight Psychosocial Stages
Stage Five: Adolescence
Age: 12 to 18 years old
Crisis: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Erikson’s Eight Psychosocial Stages
Stage Six: Young Adulthood
Age: 18-25 years
Crisis: Intimacy vs. Isolation
Erikson’s Eight Psychosocial Stages
Stage Seven: Middle Adulthood
Age: 25-65 years
Crisis: Generativity vs. Stagnation
Erikson’s Eight Psychosocial Stages
Stage Eight: Maturity
Age: 65 years until death
Crisis: Integrity vs. Despair
The Cognitive Development Approach
3
Jean Piaget
Stages
Functional Invariants
•Assimilation
•Accommodation
The Cultural Framework Approach
4
Three fundamental themes:
1) Concept of development
2) Social & cultural
development
3) Speech
The Behavioral Approach
5
B.F. Skinner
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement
Reinforcer
Negative=Remove
Positive=Add
Punishment
Negative=Remove
Positive=Add
Bandura & Social Cognitive Learning
6
Observational Learning
Social Cognitive Learning
A Bioecological Model
• Development depends on context
This produces new
changes in us
Our response causes a
change in others
Reciprocal
Interactions
Their responses to us
then change
7
Developmental Systems Theory
8
Awareness Test