CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND
EXAMPLES
Background
■ Theories of development provide a framework for thinking about human growth and
learning. But why do we study development? What can we learn from psychological
theories of development? If you have ever wondered about what motivates human
thought and behavior, understanding these theories can provide useful insight into
individuals and society.
How Our Understanding Has Changed
■ Child development that occurs from birth to adulthood was largely ignored
throughout much of human history. Children were often viewed simply as small
versions of adults and little attention was paid to the many advances in cognitive
abilities, language usage, and physical growth thaInterest in the field of child
development finally began to emerge early in the 20th century, but it tended to
focus on abnormal behavior. Eventually, researchers became increasingly interested
in other topics including typical child development as well as the influences on
development.t occur during childhood and adolescence.
How We Come to Understand Changes
■ Why is it important to study how children grow, learn and change? An understanding
of child development is essential because it allows us to fully appreciate the
cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and educational growth that children go
through from birth and into early adulthood.
■ Some of the major theories of child development are known as grand theories; they
attempt to describe every aspect of development, often using a stage approach.
Others are known as mini-theories; they instead focus only on a fairly limited aspect
of development such as cognitive or social growth.
■ There are many child development theories that have been proposed by theorists
and researchers. More recent theories outline the developmental stages of children
and identify the typical ages at which these growth milestones occur.
Psychoanalytic Theories
■ Psychoanalytic theories are those influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud, who
believed in the importance of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences.5
Freud's contribution to developmental theory was his proposal that development
occurs through a series of psychosexual stages.
■ Theorist Erik Erikson expanded upon Freud's ideas by proposing a stage theory of
psychosocial development. Erikson's theory focused on conflicts that arise at
different stages of development and, unlike Freud's theory, Erikson described
development throughout the lifespan.6
Freud's Psychosexual Developmental
Theory
■ Psychoanalytic theory originated with the work of Sigmund Freud. Through his
clinical work with patients suffering from mental illness, Freud came to believe that
childhood experiences and unconscious desires influenced behavior.
■ According to Freud, conflicts that occur during each of these stages can have a
lifelong influence on personality and behavior. Freud proposed one of the bestknown grand theories of child development.
■ According to Freud’s psychosexual theory, child development occurs in a series of
stages focused on different pleasure areas of the body. During each stage, the child
encounters conflicts that play a significant role in the course of development.
■ His theory suggested that the energy of the libido was focused on different erogenous
zones at specific stages. Failure to progress through a stage can result in fixation at that
point in development, which Freud believed could have an influence on adult behavior.
■ So what happens as children complete each stage? And what might result if a child does
poorly during a particular point in development? Successfully completing each stage
leads to the development of a healthy adult personality.
■ Failing to resolve the conflicts of a particular stage can result in fixations that can then
have an influence on adult behavior.
■ While some other child development theories suggest that personality continues to
change and grow over the entire lifetime, Freud believed that it was early experiences
that played the greatest role in shaping development. According to Freud, personality is
largely set in stone by the age of five.
Erikson's Psychosocial Developmental
Theory
■ Psychoanalytic theory was an enormously influential force during the first half of the
twentieth century. Those inspired and influenced by Freud went on to expand upon
Freud's ideas and develop theories of their own. Of these neo-Freudians, Erik
Erikson's ideas have become perhaps the best known.
■ Erikson's eight-stage theory of psychosocial development describes growth and
change throughout life, focusing on social interaction and conflicts that arise during
different stages of development.
■ While Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development shared some similarities with
Freud's, it is dramatically different in many ways. Rather than focusing on sexual
interest as a driving force in development, Erikson believed that social interaction
and experience played decisive roles.
■ His eight-stage theory of human development described this process from infancy
through death. During each stage, people are faced with a developmental conflict
that impacts later functioning and further growth.
■ Unlike many other developmental theories, Erik Erikson's psychosocial
theory focuses on development across the entire lifespan. At each stage, children
and adults face a developmental crisis that serves as a major turning point.
■ Successfully managing the challenges of each stage leads to the emergence of a
lifelong psychological virtue.
Behavioral Child Development Theories
■ During the first half of the twentieth century, a new school of thought known as
behaviorism rose to become a dominant force within psychology. Behaviorists
believed that psychology needed to focus only on observable and quantifiable
behaviors in order to become a more scientific discipline.
■ According to the behavioral perspective, all human behavior can be described in
terms of environmental influences. Some behaviorists, such as John B.
Watson and B.F. Skinner, insisted that learning occurs purely through processes of
association and reinforcement.
■
Cognitive Theories
■ Cognitive theories focus on the development of mental processes, skills, and
abilities. Examples of cognitive theories include Piaget's theor.y of cognitive
development
Piaget's Cognitive Developmental
Theory
■ Cognitive theory is concerned with the development of a person's thought
processes. It also looks at how these thought processes influence how we
understand and interact with the world.
■ Theorist Jean Piaget proposed one of the most influential theories of cognitive
development.
■ Piaget proposed an idea that seems obvious now, but helped revolutionize how we
think about child development: Children think differently than adults.2
■ His cognitive theory seeks to describe and explain the development of thought
processes and mental states. It also looks at how these thought processes influence
the way we understand and interact with the world.
Piaget then proposed a theory of cognitive
development to account for the steps and sequence of
children's intellectual development.
■ Sensorimotor Stage: A period of time between birth and age two during which an infant's
knowledge of the world is limited to his or her sensory perceptions and motor activities.
Behaviors are limited to simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli.
■ Pre-Operational Stage: A period between ages 2 and 6 during which a child learns to use
language. During this stage, children do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot
mentally manipulate information and are unable to take the point of view of other
people.
■ Concrete Operational Stage: A period between ages 7 and 11 during which children gain
a better understanding of mental operations. Children begin thinking logically about
concrete events but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts.
■ Formal Operational Stage: A period between age 12 to adulthood when people develop
the ability to think about abstract concepts. Skills such as logical thought, deductive
reasoning, and systematic planning also emerge during this stage.
Bowlby's Attachment Theory
■ There is a great deal of research on the social development of children. John
Bowbly proposed one of the earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed
that early relationships with caregivers play a major role in child development and
continue to influence social relationships throughout life.3
■ Bowlby's attachment theory suggested that children are born with an innate need to
form attachments. Such attachments aid in survival by ensuring that the child
receives care and protection. Not only that, but these attachments are characterized
by clear behavioral and motivational patterns.
■ In other words, both children and caregivers engage in behaviors designed to ensure
proximity. Children strive to stay close and connected to their caregivers who in turn
provide a safe haven and a secure base for exploration.
■ Researchers have also expanded upon Bowlby's original work and have suggested
that a number of different attachment styles exist. Children who receive consistent
support and care are more likely to develop a secure attachment style, while those
who receive less reliable care may develop an ambivalent, avoidant, or disorganized
style.
Attachment Theory
■
Bowlby defined attachment as a “lasting psychological connectedness between human beings." His
ethological theory of attachment suggests that infants have an innate need to form an attachment bond with
a caregiver. This is an evolved response that increases a child's chances of survival; babies are born with a
number of behaviors, such as crying and cooing, and caregivers are biologically programmed to respond to
these signals and attend to the baby's needs.
■
While mothers are often associated with this role as primary caregivers and attachment figures, Bowlby did
believe that infants could form such bonds with others. The formation of the attachment bond offers comfort,
security, and nourishment, but Bowlby noted that feeding was not the basis or purpose of this attachment,
allowing bonds to be formed with fathers and other significant caregivers.
■
Bowlby also suggested that attachment forms in a series of stages:
■
During the first part of the pre-attachment phase, babies recognize their primary caregiver but do not yet
have an attachment. Their crying and fussing draw the attention and care of the parent, which is rewarding to
both the child and the caregiver. As this stage progresses through about three months, infants begin to
recognize the parent more and develop a sense of trust.
■
During the indiscriminate attachment phase, infants show a distinct preference for the primary caregivers, as
well as certain secondary caregivers, in their lives.
■
During the discriminate attachment period, children form a strong attachment to one individual and will
experience separation distress and anxiety when parted from that person.
■
Finally, during the multiple attachment phases, children begin to develop strong attachments to people
beyond the primary caregivers.
Bandura's Social Learning Theory
■ Social learning theory is based on the work of psychologist Albert Bandura. Bandura
believed that the conditioning and reinforcement process could not sufficiently
explain all of human learning.
■ For example, how can the conditioning process account for learned behaviors that
have not been reinforced through classical conditioning or operant conditioning
According to social learning theory, behaviors can also be learned through
observation and modeling.
■ By observing the actions of others, including parents and peers, children develop
new skills and acquire new information.
■ Bandura's child development theory suggests that observation plays a critical role in
learning, but this observation does not necessarily need to take the form of
watching a live model.4
■ Instead, people can also learn by listening to verbal instructions about how to
perform a behavior as well as through observing either real or fictional characters
displaying behaviors in books or films.
Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory
■ Another psychologist named Lev Vygotsky proposed a seminal learning theory that has
gone on to become very influential, especially in the field of education. Like Piaget,
Vygotsky believed that children learn actively and through hands-on experiences.5
■
■ His sociocultural theory also suggested that parents, caregivers, peers and the culture at
large were responsible for developing higher-order functions. In Vygotsky's view, learning
is an inherently social process. Through interacting with others, learning becomes
integrated into an individual's understanding of the world.
■ This child development theory also introduced the concept of the zone of proximal
development, which is the gap between what a person can do with help and what they
can do on their own. It is with the help of more knowledgeable others that people are
able to progressively learn and increase their skills and scope of understanding.
■ As you can see, some of psychology's best-known thinkers have developed theories
to help explore and explain different aspects of child development. While not all of
these theories are fully accepted today, they all had an important influence on our
understanding of child development.
■ Today, contemporary psychologists often draw on a variety of theories and
perspectives in order to understand how kids grow, behave, and think. These
theories represent just a few of the different ways of thinking about child
development.
■ In reality, fully understanding how children change and grow over the course of
childhood requires looking at many different factors that influence physical and
psychological growth. Genes, the environment, and the interactions between these
two forces determine how kids grow physically as well as mentally.
Nature vs. Nurture
■ The debate over the relative contributions of inheritance and the environment usually
referred to as the nature versus nurture debate
■ Philosophers such as Plato and Descartes supported the idea that some ideas are
inborn. On the other hand, thinkers such as John Locke argued for the concept of tabula
rasa—a belief that the mind is a blank slate at birth, with experience determining our
knowledge. is one of the oldest issues in both philosophy and psychology
■ Today, most psychologists believe that it is an interaction between these two forces that
causes development.
■ Some aspects of development are distinctly biological, such as puberty. However, the
onset of puberty can be affected by environmental factors such as diet and nutrition.
Early Experience vs. Later Experience
■ A second important consideration in developmental psychology involves the relative
importance of early experiences versus those that occur later in life. Are we more
affected by events that occur in early childhood, or do later events play an equally
important role?3
■ Psychoanalytic theorists tend to focus on events that occur in early childhood. According
to Freud, much of a child's personality is completely established by the age of five. If this
is indeed the case, those who have experienced deprived or abusive childhoods might
never adjust or develop normally.
■ In contrast to this view, researchers have found that the influence of childhood events
does not necessarily have a dominating effect over behavior throughout life, however
there is evidence that childhood adversity may correlate to greater levels of stress in
adulthood.4 Many people with less-than-perfect childhoods go on to develop normally
into well-adjusted adults.
Continuity vs. Discontinuity
■ A third major issue in developmental psychology is that of continuity. Does change
occur smoothly over time, or through a series of predetermined steps?
■ Some theories of development argue that changes are simply a matter of quantity;
children display more of certain skills as they grow older.
■ Other theories outline a series of sequential stages in which skills emerge at certain
points of development. Most theories of development fall under three broad areas.
Abnormal Behavior vs. Differences
■ One of the biggest concerns of many parents is whether or not their child is
developing normally. Developmental milestones offer guidelines for the ages at
which certain skills and abilities typically emerge, but can create concern when a
child falls slightly behind the norm.
■ While developmental theories have historically focused upon deficits in behavior,
focus on individual differences in development is becoming more common.9
■ Psychoanalytic theories are traditionally focused upon abnormal behavior, so
developmental theories in this area tend to describe deficits in behavior. Learning
theories rely more on the environment's unique impact on an individual, so
individual differences are an important component of these theories. Today,
psychologists look at both norms and individual differences when describing child
development.
Learning Theories
■ Learning theories focus on how the environment impacts behavior. Important
learning processes include classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social
learning. In each case, behavior is shaped by the interaction between the individual
and the environment.7
■ Behavioral theories of child development focus on how environmental interaction
influences behavior and is based on the theories of theorists such as John B. Watson,
Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner. These theories deal only with observable behaviors.
Development is considered a reaction to rewards, punishments, stimuli, and
reinforcement.
■ This theory differs considerably from other child development theories because it gives
no consideration to internal thoughts or feelings. Instead, it focuses purely on how
experience shapes who we are.
■ Two important types of learning that emerged from this approach to development
are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning involves
learning by pairing a naturally occurring stimulus with a previously neutral stimulus.
Operant conditioning utilizes reinforcement and punishment to modify behaviors.
What Is Classical Conditioning?
A Step-by-Step Guide to How Classical Conditioning Really
Works
■ Classical conditioning is a type of learning that had a major influence on the school of
thought in psychology known as behaviorism. Discovered by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov,
classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs through associations between an
environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.1
Classical Conditioning Basics
■ Although classical conditioning was not discovered by a psychologist at all, it had a
tremendous influence over the school of thought in psychology known
as behaviorism.2
■ Behaviorism is based on the assumption that:
■ All learning occurs through interactions with the environment
■ The environment shapes behavior
■ Classical conditioning involves placing a neutral signal before a naturally occurring
reflex. In Pavlov's classic experiment with dogs, the neutral signal was the sound of
a tone and the naturally occurring reflex was salivating in response to food. By
associating the neutral stimulus with the environmental stimulus (food), the sound
of the tone alone could produce the salivation response.3
What Is Operant Conditioning and How
Does It Work?
■ Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a method of
learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant
conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence (whether
negative or positive) for that behavior.1
■ For example, when lab rats press a lever when a green light is on, they receive a food
pellet as a reward. When they press the lever when a red light is on, they receive a mild
electric shock. As a result, they learn to press the lever when the green light is on and
avoid the red light.
■ But operant conditioning is not just something that takes place in experimental settings
while training lab animals. It also plays a powerful role in everyday learning.
Reinforcement and punishment take place in natural settings all the time, as well as in
more structured settings such as classrooms or therapy sessions.
The History of Operant Conditioning
■ Operant conditioning was first described by behaviorist B.F. Skinner, which is why
you may occasionally hear it referred to as Skinnerian conditioning.1 As a
behaviorist, Skinner believed that it was not really necessary to look at internal
thoughts and motivations in order to explain behavior. Instead, he suggested, we
should look only at the external, observable causes of human behavior.
■ Through the first part of the 20th century, behaviorism became a major force within
psychology. The ideas of John B. Watson dominated this school of thought early on.
Watson focused on the principles of classical conditioning, once famously
suggesting that he could take any person regardless of their background and train
them to be anything he chose.2
Components of Operant Conditioning
There are several key concepts in operant
conditioning.
■ Reinforcement is any event that strengthens or increases the behavior it follows. There
are two kinds of reinforcers. In both of these cases of reinforcement, the
behavior increases.
■ Positive reinforcers are favorable events or outcomes that are presented after the
behavior. In positive reinforcement situations, a response or behavior is strengthened by
the addition of praise or a direct reward. If you do a good job at work and your manager
gives you a bonus, that bonus is a positive reinforcer.
■ Negative reinforcers involve the removal of an unfavorable events or outcomes after the
display of a behavior. In these situations, a response is strengthened by the removal of
something considered unpleasant. For example, if your child starts to scream in the
middle of a restaurant, but stops once you hand them a treat, your action led to the
removal of the unpleasant condition, negatively reinforcing your behavior (not your
child's).
■ Operant conditioning relies on a fairly simple premise: Actions that are followed by
reinforcement will be strengthened and more likely to occur again in the future. If you tell
a funny story in class and everybody laughs, you will probably be more likely to tell that
story again in the future.
■ If you raise your hand to ask a question and your teacher praises your polite behavior,
you will be more likely to raise your hand the next time you have a question or comment.
Because the behavior was followed by reinforcement, or a desirable outcome, the
preceding action is strengthened.
■ Conversely, actions that result in punishment or undesirable consequences will be
weakened and less likely to occur again in the future. If you tell the same story again in
another class but nobody laughs this time, you will be less likely to repeat the story again
in the future. If you shout out an answer in class and your teacher scolds you, then you
might be less likely to interrupt the class again.
■
Skinner identified several different schedules of reinforcement that impact the operant conditioning process:4
■
Continuous reinforcement involves delivering a reinforcement every time a response occurs. Learning tends to occur
relatively quickly, yet the response rate is quite low. Extinction also occurs very quickly once reinforcement is halted.
■
Fixed-ratio schedules are a type of partial reinforcement. Responses are reinforced only after a specific number of
responses have occurred. This typically leads to a fairly steady response rate.
■
Fixed-interval schedules are another form of partial reinforcement. Reinforcement occurs only after a certain interval of
time has elapsed. Response rates remain fairly steady and start to increase as the reinforcement time draws near, but
slow immediately after the reinforcement has been delivered.
■
Variable-ratio schedules are also a type of partial reinforcement that involve reinforcing behavior after a varied number
of responses. This leads to both a high response rate and slow extinction rates.
■
Variable-interval schedules are the final form of partial reinforcement Skinner described. This schedule involves
delivering reinforcement after a variable amount of time has elapsed. This also tends to lead to a fast response rate and
slow extinction rate.
Punishment in Operant Conditioning
■ Punishment is the presentation of an adverse event or outcome that causes a
decrease in the behavior it follows. There are two kinds of punishment. In both of
these cases, the behavior decreases.
■ Positive punishment, sometimes referred to as punishment by application, presents
an unfavorable event or outcome in order to weaken the response it follows.
Spanking for misbehavior is an example of punishment by application.
■ Negative punishment, also known as punishment by removal, occurs when a
favorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs. Taking away a child's
video game following misbehavior is an example of negative punishment.
Examples of Operant Conditioning
■
We can find examples of operant conditioning at work all around us. Consider the case of children completing
homework to earn a reward from a parent or teacher, or employees finishing projects to receive praise or
promotions. More examples of operant conditioning in action include:
■
After performing in a community theater play, you receive applause from the audience. This acts as a positive
reinforcer, inspiring you to try out for more performance roles.
■
You train your dog to fetch by offering him praise and a pat on the head whenever he performs the behavior
correctly. This is another positive reinforcer.
■
A professor tells students that if they have perfect attendance all semester, then they do not have to take the
final comprehensive exam. By removing an unpleasant stimulus (the final test), students are negatively
reinforced to attend class regularly.
■
If you fail to hand in a project on time, your boss becomes angry and berates your performance in front of
your co-workers. This acts as a positive punisher, making it less likely that you will finish projects late in the
future.
■
A teen girl does not clean up her room as she was asked, so her parents take away her phone for the rest of
the day. This is an example of a negative punishment in which a positive stimulus is taken away.
■
In some of these examples, the promise or possibility of rewards causes an increase in behavior. Operant
conditioning can also be used to decrease a behavior via the removal of a desirable outcome or the
application of a negative outcome. For example, a child may be told they will lose recess privileges if they talk
■ While classical conditioning could account for respondent behaviors, Skinner
realized that it could not account for a great deal of learning. Instead, Skinner
suggested that operant conditioning held far greater importance.
■ Skinner invented different devices during his boyhood and he put these skills to
work during his studies on operant conditioning. He created a device known as an
operant conditioning chamber, often referred to today as a Skinner box. The
chamber could hold a small animal, such as a rat or pigeon. The box also contained
a bar or key that the animal could press in order to receive a reward.
■ In order to track responses, Skinner also developed a device known as a cumulative
recorder. The device recorded responses as an upward movement of a line so that
response rates could be read by looking at the slope of the line.
Reinforcement Schedules
■ Reinforcement is not necessarily a straightforward process, and there are a number
of factors that can influence how quickly and how well new things are learned.
Skinner found that when and how often behaviors were reinforced played a role in
the speed and strength of acquisition. In other words, the timing and frequency of
reinforcement influenced how new behaviors were learned and how old behaviors
were modified.
Types of Behaviors
■ Skinner distinguished between two different types of behaviors
■ Respondent behaviors are those that occur automatically and reflexively, such as
pulling your hand back from a hot stove or jerking your leg when the doctor taps on
your knee. You don't have to learn these behaviors. They simply occur automatically
and involuntarily.
■ Operant behaviors, on the other hand, are those under our conscious control. Some
may occur spontaneously and others purposely, but it is the consequences of these
actions that then influence whether or not they occur again in the future. Our
actions on the environment and the consequences of that action make up an
important part of the learning process.
■ While behaviorism may have lost much of the dominance it held during the early
part of the 20th century, operant conditioning remains an important and often used
tool in the learning and behavior modification process. Sometimes natural
consequences lead to changes in our behavior. In other instances, rewards and
punishments may be consciously doled out in order to create a change.
■ Operant conditioning is something you may immediately recognize in your own life,
whether it is in your approach to teaching your children good behavior or in training
the family dog. Remember that any type of learning takes time. Consider the type of
reinforcement or punishment that may work best for your unique situation and
assess which type of reinforcement schedule might lead to the best results.
■ Early behaviorists focused their interests on associative learning. Skinner was more
interested in how the consequences of people's actions influenced their behavior.
■
Skinner used the term operant to refer to any "active behavior that operates upon
the environment to generate consequences." Skinner's theory explained how we
acquire the range of learned behaviors we exhibit every day.
■ His theory was heavily influenced by the work of psychologist Edward Thorndike, who
had proposed what he called the law of effect.3 According to this principle, actions
that are followed by desirable outcomes are more likely to be repeated while those
followed by undesirable outcomes are less likely to be repeated.
■
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stress. BMC Public Health. 2018;18(1):835. doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5767-0
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Govrin A. Facts and sensibilities: What is a psychoanalytic innovation?. Front Psychol. 2019;10:1781. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01781
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doi:10.1177/0038038515577906
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Learning theory. APA Dictionary of Psychology.
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Piagetian theory. APA Dictionary of Psychology.
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Revelle W, Wilt J, Condon DM. Individual Differences and Differential Psychology: A brief history and prospect. Handbook of Individual Differences. Northwestern
University. Published May 18, 2010.
■
Additional ReadingBerk, LE. Child Development. 9th ed. USA: Pearson Education, Inc; 2012.
■
Shute RH, Slee PT. Child Development Theories and Critical Perspectives, Second Edition. New York: Routledge; 2015.