Piaget—Sensorimotor and Preoperational--Mina and Cameron
Sensorimotor Stage- ranges from birth to about age 2, during
which infants learn mostly through trial and error. Children
initially rely on reflexes, eventually modifying them to adapt to
their world. Behaviors become goal directed, progressing from
concrete to abstract goals. Objects and events can be mentally
represented by the child (sometimes called object permanence).
Object Permanence
Method: observation- toy under blanket and watched if child
would try to find toy
Participant: a 8 month old
Findings: At 8 months old, an infant is able to form a mental
image in their mind and therefor can find the toy
Pros: ecologically valid,
Cons: small target population, generalizable
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=
NjBh9ld_yIo
Substages of the Sensorimotor Stage (6):
Reflexes (0-1 month):
During this substage, the child understands the environment
purely through inborn reflexes such as sucking and looking.
Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months):
This substage involves coordinating sensation and new
schemas. For example, a child may such his or her thumb by
accident and then later intentionally repeat the action. These
actions are repeated because the infant finds them pleasurable.
Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months):
During this substage, the child becomes more focused on the
world and begins to intentionally repeat an action in order to
trigger a response in the environment. For example, a child will
purposefully pick up a toy in order to put it in his or her mouth.
Coordination of Reactions (8-12 months):
During this substage, the child starts to show clearly intentional
actions. The child may also combine schemas in order to
achieve a desired effect. Children begin exploring the
environment around them and will often imitate the observed
behavior of others. The understanding of objects also begins
during this time and children begin to recognize certain objects
as having specific qualities. For example, a child might realize
that a rattle will make a sound when shaken.
Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months):
Children begin a period of trial-and-error experimentation
during the fifth substage. For example, a child may try out
different sounds or actions as a way of getting attention from a
caregiver.
Early Representational Thought (18-24 months):
Children begin to develop symbols to represent events or
objects in the world in the final sensorimotor substage. During
this time, children begin to move towards understanding the
world through mental operations rather than purely through
actions.
Preoperational Stage
Egocentrism:
Piaget used a number of creative and clever techniques to study
the mental abilities of children.
Three Mountain Task
Method: 10 pictures, children are asked to choose a picture that
showed the scene they had observed. Most children are able to
do this with little difficulty. Next, children are asked to select a
picture showing what someone else would have observed when
looking at the mountain from a different viewpoint. The
children almost always choose the scene showing their own
view of the mountain scene.
Participants: 3-4 yr olds,
Findings: Four-year-olds always chose a picture which matched
their own view, while six-year-olds showed some awareness of
alternative perspectives. Only seven- and eight-year-olds
consistently chose the correct picture.
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OinqFgsIbh0&feature=play
er_embedded
Pro: Ecologically valid, replicable and reliable
Con: lacking cross-cultural validity
Conservation Experiment
Method: Equal amounts of liquid are poured into two identical
containers. The liquid in one container is then poured into a
different shaped cup, such as a tall and thin cup or a short and
wide cup. Children are then asked which cup holds the most
liquid. Despite seeing that the liquid amounts were equal,
children almost always choose the cup that appears fuller.
Participants: 3-8 yr olds,
Findings: Few children showed any understanding of
conservation prior to the age of five.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtLEWVu815o&edufilter=P
LLsLPr3xzF7tKMO_XnrQg
Pro: replicable and generalizable
Con: cross cultural validity
Piaget—Concrete Operational and Formal Operational—David
and Daniel
Observational method and interviews
 He first used his three children to establish the cognitive
development theory
 Concrete Operational stage

o 3rd stage of his theory, where children begin to think
logically about concrete ideas
o From ages 7-11
 Formal Operational stage
o From adolescence through adulthood
o Have the ability to think about abstract ideas
 Methodological strengths and weaknesses
o Showed further research of cognitive level of
analysis and developmental analysis
o Helped the field of education with understanding
and communication for children
o Since Piaget used Observational and interview
research methods; it influenced confirmation for Piaget
o Population sample was small and participants were
his own children
 Ethical Strengths and Weaknesses
o Since it is an observational/interview study on his
own children, there was no undue harm or stress
o However, the children were not given the chance to
withdraw from the experiment since they were
controlled by their own father
Yes, we believe that there is a cultural bias with Piaget’s
theory because it didn’t account for the population around
the world since he only used his own children as the
participants. The universal theory is not possible because it
doesn’t account for the general population.
Baillargeon—Ross and Zion
Baillargeon
Method
- [Tested Object Permanence to infants. Infants were
supposed to observe two different events; possible and
impossible.
- Observed the differences of reactions from the infants
between impossible and possible events
Participants
- Infants as young as 2 ½ months of age
Findings
- Infants happened to stare at the impossible events longer
- Discovered that infants at different ages acquire different
expectations about how the physical world operates.
They’ve found that infants develop event-specific
expectations, rather than general principles.
- Baillargeon et al. concluded that the infants had formed a
mental representation of the existence, height, and path of
each carrot as it moved behind the panel – the essence of
object permanence.
Strengths and weaknesses of methodology and ethics
PROS
- Ecologically valid because object permanence is something
that can be applied every day.
- Easily replicable. This experiment can be tested very easily
- No physical harm to infants.
CONS
- Baillargeon may falsely attribute the expression that the
infant has to confusion.
- Reductionist, you can only infer with children who cannot
talk.
- Although the method is unethical, there is no way to have
informed consent from children who cannot talk.
Vygotsky—Carlos and Paul
Zone of Proximal Development- The difference between
what children can accomplish on their own and what they
can accomplish with others who are more competent
Children’s thinking is affected by their social knowledge,
can be communicated by either psychological (language,
number, art) or technical (books, calculator).
A major weakness is that there are no experiments or
ways to tell how he got his theory. Because we don't know
how he got his results we cant evaluate the theory.
Although his theory seems applicable his findings are not
extremely generalizable.
Bowlby—Blake and Luke
Method- Bowlby interviewed 44 adolescents from a
child guidance clinic who were child thieves. He then
selected another 44 teenagers from the same clinic
to act as "controls"- emotional problems, not thieves.
 Participants- 88 adolescents, 44 (31 boys 13 girls) of
which were held in the center for child thievery, 44
(34 boys and 10 girls) of which were admitted for
emotional problems
 Findings- More than half of the thieves had been
separated from their mothers for more than six
months in the last 5 years. Only 2 in the control group
had like separation. In addition, 32% of the children
in the IVY group (14) had "affectionless psycopathy":
Not able to care about or feel affection for others. 12
of these were separated from carer for more than 6
mothers for 6 months. From the 30 in non

affectionless, 5 were separated for more than 6
months and 25 were not separated. Bowbly
concluded that maternal separation led to
affectionless psychopathy, and that maternal
attachment was one of the first steps to stable mental
health.
 Theory- Bowlby's theory of attachment suggested that
children come into the world biologically programmed
to form attachments with a maternal figure. This
biological attachment was advantageous to survival,
and was not just food and protection but also care
and responsiveness.
 Methodological strengths- Rich qualitative and
quantitative data, large sample size considering rich
data, combated Hawthorne effect bygathering data
from school professors and families to triangulate
data
 Methodological weaknesses- Control group also from
clinic so possibility of confounding variables because
control group could be subject to same factors as IVY
group, large discrepancy in gender in both groups
 Ethical strengths- Since its a case study, it will
inherently be non intrusive,
 Ethical Weaknesses- Ethically deterministic (theory),
reductionist
Bowlby—Hanna and Jen
Attachment Theory: "the earliest bonds
formed by children with their caregivers have a
tremendous impact that continues throughout life."
(attachment being "a lasting psychological connectedness
between human beings"-Bowlby)
Primitive explanation: feelings of attachment in infants are
triggered in situations involving separation, insecurity, and
fear and are instinctive qualities to help the infants
survive. Most significant during the first 5 years.
"44 Thieves" (Bowlby, 1944)
Method: interviews
Participants:
-44 "thieves"--adolescents who were referred to a child
protection program in London due to problems with
stealing
-44 "controls"--adolescents referred to the child protection
program because of emotional problems (sans criminal
records)
Findings
more than 50% of the juvenile thieves had been
separated from their mothers for longer than 6
months during the first 5 years of their life
 32% of the juvenile thieves exhibited affectionless
psychopathy (control group contained none)


concluded that anti-social behavior and emotional
problems in 1st group was because of maternal
deprivation
Strengths
strong population of 88 participants adds greater
variety to data
 44 children acting as control group lessens bias
 use of interviews gathers qualitative data and allows
for consideration of emotional and sociocultural
factors
 added useful theory (attachment theory) to
sociocultural perspective

Weaknesses
control group still had emotional issues, which could
have skewed data
 interviews do not provide empirical evidence and
could have inflicted Hawthorne Effect on the
participants
 unclear definition of "deprivation" and "privation" may
have lead to confirmation bias
 too many confounding variables (such as diet,
parental income, education, etc.)

Ainsworth—Toni and Megan
Strange Situation Study

Used an experiment with following procedure
The parent and infant are introduced to the
experimental room containing toys
o The parent and the infant are alone
o The parent sits in a chair and does not participate
while the infant plays
o The stranger enters and converses with the parent
o The stranger gradually approaches the infant with
a toy, the parent leaves without the child noticing
o First Separation Episode: the strangers behavior is
geared to that of the infant leaving the child
playing with the toys unless they are inactive in
which case the stranger tries to interest the child
with the toys
o First Reunion Episode: the parent returns and
waits for the infant to respond, the stranger
leaves without the child noticing while the parent
comforts the child. Once the infant is settled, the
parent leaves again
o Second Separation Episode: the infant is alone
o Continuation of Second Separation Episode: the
stranger enters and gears behavior towards that
of the infant
o Second Reunion Episode: the parent enters, waits
for the child to respond and then picks up the
child, and the stranger leaves without the child
noticing
o Procedure repeated with a further stranger
episode
o
The child's behavior is recorded every 15 seconds
throughout the sequence of events and are also
rated for intensity on a scale of 1-7
 Participants were infants 12-18 months and used
about 100 American middle class families
 Findings: classified infants into three types
o Secure: 66% of the infants would explore the room
freely and with frequent reference to the mother,
were mildly distressed when the mother left, and
they greeted her warmly when she returned
o Anxious resistant: 22% of the infants were
insecure in the presence of the mother showing
little inclination to explore and becomes very
distressed when she leaves, the infant resists
contact when the mother returns and may
express anger or resentment and the infant is
highly wary of the stranger
o Avoidant: 12% of the infants do not seek contact
with the mother, shows little distress when
separated, and avoids contact with mother upon
return, and treats the stranger in a similar way to
the mother, often avoiding them. The mother may
avoid the infant. The infant shows a good
willingness to explore
 Methodological Strengths
o Multiple stranger interactions
o Includes qualitative and quantitative data with
observations and with rankings
 Methodological Weaknesses
o
Only American families
o Not generalizable because only measuring
attachment style specific to the mother
 Ethical Strength
o Informed consent from parents
o Conserved anonymity
 Ethical Weaknesses
o Leaving child with a stranger
o The infant has not given informed consent
o
Sites used:
http://www.simplypsychology.org/mary-ainsworth.html
http://www.childdevelopmentmedia.com/mary-ainsworthand-attachment-theory.html
http://www.psychteacher.co.uk/attachment/strangesituation.html
http://www.integratedsociopsychology.net/strange_situatio
n_study.html
Video content:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded
&v=QTsewNrHUHU
Erikson—Cecily and Drew
Stage 1: Birth-2 years: Trust vs. Mistrust
basic needs met by parents
if parents are warm and giving= trust
if parents neglectful= mistrust
can lead to frustration and lack of confidence later if not
fulfilled
Stage 2: 2-4 years: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
if parents are supportive but allow exploration= autonomy
first interests are developed
if parents demand too much or belittle efforts= shame &
doubt
Stage 3: 4-5 years: Initiative vs. Guilt
if parents and caretakers support projects and interests=
initiative
greater interest in planning activities
if adults and caretakers discourage activities= guilt
guilt about needs and interests
Stage 4: 5-12 years: Industry vs. Inferiority
success in school/social= industry
failure in school/social= inferiority
Praise: guideline
Criticism: not based in studies
no data, quantitative or qualitative
Erikson—Sydney and Camila
ERIKSON
5. Identity vs. Role Confusion
- During adolescents (12-18)
-Adolescents begin to question who they are, what is
important to them, and what sort of person they want to be
- Successful completion=Fidelity (ability to hold beliefs
and values in the face of problems)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embe
dded&v=wJMXk5ibkQk
6. Intimacy vs. Isolation
- Young Adulthood (18-40)
- Exploration of relationships leading to long term
commitments outside of family
- Successful completion = Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded
&v=BlYcroiA3VU
7. Generativity and Stagnation
- Middle Adulthood (40-65)
- strive to nurture or create things that will outlast them
through having children or contributing to society
- Generativity: making your mark
-Stagnation: failure to find a way to contribute
- Successful completion = care
8. Integrity vs. Despair
- Late adulthood (65 year to death)
- Reflection of and acceptance of one’s life
- Negative completion = no feelings of fulfilment or
accomplishment
- Successful completion = sense of fulfillment and
accepts death as unavoidable
Methodology: -theories
Methodological Strengths: -applicability
- universality
Methodological Weaknesses: -reductionist
- deterministic
Ethical Strengths: -no participants harmed/used at all
Ethical Weaknesses: none
Participants: none
http://www.simplypsychology.org/psychodynamic.ht
ml
http://web.cortland.edu/andersmd/erik/stage8.html
http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
Freud—Olivia and Hayley
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Based on case studies with adult patients; experience with
children was limited.
Case Study: Little Hans
5 year old boy with a phobia of horses
Freud wanted to treat the phobia and also to explore what
factors might have led to the phobia in the first pace and
what factors led to its remission
Freud interpreted this case inline with his Oedipus
complex theory
Oedipus Complex- a desire for sexual involvement with
the parent of the opposite sex and a concomitant sense of
rivalry with the parent of the same sex; a crucial stage in
the normal developmental process; Freud believed the
Oedipus Complex was universal
Hans father wrote to freud about his son’s obsession with
his genitals and his phobia of horses.His mother
reportedly told him “not to touch his widdler or else she
would call the doctor to come and cut it off”
Hans was afraid a horse will bite him in the street. He was
especially afraid of horses that had “black bits around the
mouth and blinders” which freud believed represented
Hans’ father and the black bits were a moustache, and the
blinders were his fathers spectacles.
Freud concluded that Hans was afraid that his father
would castrate him for desiring his mother.
Freud interpreted that the horses in the phobia were
symbolic of the father, and that Hans feared that the horse
(father) would bite (castrate) him as punishment for the
incestuous desires
towards his mother.
Hans did recover from his phobia after his father (at
Freud's suggestion) assured him that he had no intention
of cutting off his penis.
Strengths:
 Hans was in a natural setting and was observed by his
father so artificiality is limited and social
desirability/demand characteristics are also limited.
 Hans remained anonymous
Weaknesses:
 Hans’ Father could have misrepresented Hans’
actions- confirmation bias
 takes advantage of opportunity sample
 not generalizable
Psychosexual Stages of Development
Oral stage- birth to 18 months. Babies focus on activities
such as sucking and biting. Fixation on this stage would
result in a preoccupation with oral activities as an adult
such as smoking, over eating, and drinking and have
over-dependent behavior. Suppression of these urges
would result in pessimism and aggression towards others
Anal stage- 18 months to three years. The child focuses
on retaining and eliminating feces for pleasure. Fixation of
this stage results in either a messy, disorganized
behavior, or a clean, perfectionist and controlling
behavior.
Phallic stage- 3 to 6 years. The genitals become a source
of pleasure in this stage. Boys develop unconscious
sexual desires for their mother and fear of their father
(Oedipus complex). The Electra complex was disputed by
Freud. Fixation at this stage results in sexual deviances
(over-indulging or avoidance), and weak or confused
sexual identity.
Latency stage- 6 years to puberty. Sexual urges are
repressed and children interact with peers of the same
sex.
Genital stage- puberty to adulthood. Sexual urges are
awakened and children focus urges towards peers of the
opposite sex.
Freud theorized that neurotic behaviors stemmed from
problems in childhood. This is impossible to test because
of the large time gap between the cause and effect of
such behaviors.
Horney—Kaela and Katie
Theories:
 Theory of Neurotic Needs: neurosis as an attempt to cope
o 10 particular patterns of needs broken into 3 categories
 Compliance: need for affection and approval, need
for a partner, need to restrict one’s life into narrow
boarders
 Aggression: control over others, exploitation of
others, social recognition and prestige, need for
personal admiration, need for personal achievement
 Withdrawal: need for self-sufficiency and
independence, need for perfection, need for
unassailability
o Neurosis can begin in any stage of life, but most begin in
childhood
 Neo-Freudianism
o Womb Envy
 Men are envious of a women’s ability to bear
children
o Opposed Freud’s oedipal complex, saying that preferring
one parent and envying the other was a result of a
disturbance in the parent-child relationship
 The Idealized Self Image
o The difference between who you are who you think you
are (3 types of people)
 Compliant People (toward): see themselves as
saintly and good
 Aggressive People (against): see themselves as
strong and heroic
 Detached People (away): see themselves as selfreliant and wise
o 3 aspects
 Neurotic Claims: believe they have special privileges
in life and become extremely frustrated when their
wishes are not granted
 Neurotic Pride: avoid people who don’t recognize
the innate superiority of the neurotic individual
 Neurotic Search for Glory: self-idealization (the drive
to make the idealized self-image real), need for
perfection, neurotic ambition (compulsive drive
toward superiority), drive for vindictive triumph
(show superiority by humiliating others)
 Self-Hatred
o Arises because the neurotic realized who they should be
isn’t who they are (expressed in a variety of ways)
 Relentless Demands of the Self (continual search for
perfection never ends)
 Merciless Self-Accusation (punishing self for not
living up to idealized image)
 Self-Contempt (belittling, disparaging, and
discrediting oneself)
 Self-Frustration (deny pleasure due to a need to
protect the idealized image)
 Self-Torment (anguishing over decisions, starting a
fight they can’t win)
 Self- Destructive Actions and Impulses (overeating,
overwork, drug/alcohol dependency, breaking off
healthy relationships, promiscuous sexual activity)
Strengths:
 Explanatory- theories for both self-boasting and self-doubt
 Ethically sound, no participants
Weaknesses:
 No studies to back up theories
 Cultural validity: Horney published her theories in a time of
feminine movements, explaining her insistence on male
inferiority to females rather than vice versa
 Confirmation bias: Horney would theorize the information
she personally believed to be true
Money and Erhardt—Madison and Gabbie
Method: raising a boy as a girl and studying "her" and her
twin brother (the control) as they grew up
Participants: Bruce/Brenda/David and Brian Reimer, two
twins from Winnipeg, Canada born in 1965
Findings: Nature overrides nurture
Strengths: ecologically valid- nature vs nurture debate,
longitudinal, control group
Weaknesses: deception, confirmation bias, no informed
consent, stress, exploitation, researcher bias, only one
participant, bad risk/benefit ratio, no right to withdraw, the
twins ended up killing themselves
Mead—Rachel and Beatriz
Method:
Naturalistic observation
 Interview
 Focus groups
 Random sampling

Participants:

68 young women between 9 and 20 years old from the
island Ta'u
Findings:

The transition from childhood to adulthood in Samoa is
a smooth transition without emotional or
psychological distress, anxiety, or confusion. This is
because Samoan girls belong to a stable,
monocultural society, surrounded by role models,
where nothing concerning sex, birth, bodily functions,
or death is hidden. Also, Samoan girls are not
pressured to choose from conflicting values like
many girls are in different cultures.
Strengths:
Random sampling
 First hand account from participants
 Ecologically valid

Weaknesses
No empirical data
 Potential Hawthorne Effect
 Possible undue stress inflicted upon the participants
 Potential conformation bias
 Not cross culturally valid
 Not easily replicated

DISCUSS: Is there much or little cultural bias across
these studies? Do these studies suggest that it is
possible to formulate a universal theory of development?