CHAPTER 2
Theories
of Human
Development
Theories of Human Development

Theory: Ideas proposed to
describe/explain certain phenomena
 Organizes
 Guides
facts/observations
collection of new data

Should be internally consistent

Falsifiable: Hypothesis can be tested

Supported by data
Freud: Psychoanalytic Theory

Instincts and unconscious motivation

Id, Ego, and Superego formed from psychic
energy (Libido)


Id: Instinctual nature of humans

Ego: Rational and objective

Superego: Internalized moral standards
Dynamic system: Regular conflicts within
Freud’s Psychosexual
Development

Child moves through five stages

Stages result from conflict between Id &
Superego

Conflict creates anxiety

Ego defends against anxiety with defense
mechanisms

Early experiences have long-term effects on
personality
Strengths and Weaknesses of
Freud’s Theory

Strengths
 Awareness
of unconscious
motivation
 Emphasized
important early
experience

Weaknesses
 Ambiguous,
 Not
inconsistent, not testable
supported by research
Erik Erikson

Most influential neo-Freudian

Some differences with Freud
 Less
emphasis on sexual urges
 More
emphasis on rational ego
 More
positive, adaptive view of
human nature
 Development
adulthood
continues through
Erikson’s Stages


Trust vs. Mistrust: Importance of responsive
caregiver
Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt: Preschool
Initiative vs. Guilt: Preschool
Industry vs. Inferiority: School-age children
Identity vs. Role Confusion: Adolescence
Intimacy vs. Isolation: Young adult

Generativity vs. Stagnation: Middle age

Integrity vs. Despair: Old Age




Strengths and Weaknesses of Erikson

Strengths
 Focus on identity crisis of adolescence still
most relevant
 Emphasis on rational and adaptive nature
 Interaction of biological & social influences
 Weaknesses
 Sometimes vague and difficult to test
 Does not explain how development comes
about
Learning Theories: Classical Conditioning

Behaviorism: Conclusions should be based
on observable behavior only

Tabula Rasa - Environmental view

Association Learning

UCS: Built-in, unlearned stimulus

UCR: Automatic, unlearned response

CS: Stimulus causes learned response

CR: Learned response

The three phases of classical conditioning
Learning Theories: Operant
Conditioning
 Probability
of behavior based on
environmental consequences
 Reinforcement
 Pleasant
consequence
 Increases
probability
 Punishment
 Decreases
probability
 Unpleasant,
aversive


Possible consequences of whining behavior.
Moosie comes into the TV room and sees his father talking and joking
with his sister. Lulu, as the two watch a football game. Soon Moosie
begins to whine, louder and louder, that he wants them to turn off the
television so he can play Nintendo games. If you were Moosie’s father,
how would you react? Here are four possible consequences of Moosie’s
behavior. Consider both the type of consequences – whether it is a
pleasant or aversive stimulus – and whether it is administered (“added
to”) or withdrawn. Notice that reinforcers strengthen whining behavior, or
make it more likely in the future, whereas punishers weaken it.
Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory

Formerly called social learning theory


Humans think, anticipate, believe, etc.
Cognitive Emphasis: Observational learning

BoBo doll studies

Model praised or punished

Child learned to imitate rewarded
 Vicarious
reinforcement
model
Learning Theory: Strengths &
Weaknesses


Strengths

Precise and testable theory

Carefully controlled experiments

Practical applications across lifespan
Weaknesses

Inadequate account of lifespan changes

Ignored genetic and maturational
processes
Piaget: Cognitive Developmental Theory

Intelligence: Ability to adapt to environment

Constructivism: Understanding based on
experience

Interactionist


Both biological maturation and experience
required for developmental progress
At each new stage, children think in a
qualitatively different way
Cognitive Developmental Theory


Strengths

Well-accepted by developmentalists

Well-researched, mostly supported

Influenced education and parenting
Weaknesses

Ignores motivation and emotion

Stages not universal especially the last one
Contextual/Systems Theories


Lev Vygotsky: Sociocultural perspective

Cognitive development is a social process

Problem solving aided by dialogues
Gottlieb: Evolutionary/Epigenetic Systems

Genes, neural activity, behavior, and
environment mutually influential
 Normal
genes and normal early
experiences most helpful
Gottlieb – Developmental
Psychobiology

Interaction: Biological & environmental
influences
 Individual programmed through evolution
 Current behavior results from past adaptation
 Ethology: Behavior adaptive to specific
environments
 E.g., food scarcity creates nomadic behaviors
 Species-specific behavior of animals &
humans
Gottlieb: Epigenesis
Instinctual behavior may or may not occur
 Depends on early physical and social
environments
 Genes alone don’t influence behavior
 A system of interactions
 People develop in changing contexts
 Historical
 Cultural

Strengths and Weaknesses
 Strengths
 Stresses
the interaction of nature
and nurture
 Weaknesses
 Only
partially formulated and tested
 No coherent developmental theory