Classical Theories of Social & Personality Development
“There is nothing as practical as a good theory.” Kurt Lewin
Historic orientations to development
Psychoanalytic Theory
– WE are driven by biological instincts which gradually mature
Behaviorist/ Social Learning Viewpoint
– Child is shaped by environmental pressures
Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Viewpoint
– Child is capable of choosing what to learn for his/her own purposes
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Viewpoint
Psychosexual theory (child as born of original sin, driven by primitive instincts)
– Eros- life instinct
– Thanatos- death instinct
Freud formulated theory based on pathological patients
– Used hypnosis & free association to uncover unconscious motives that
had been repressed & were driving pathological behavior
Structures of Personality
Id – driven by pleasure principle
Ego – driven by reality principle
Superego – the conscience
Stages of Development
Child is a sexual being but the sexual instinct should mature and can drive
positive behaviors (sublimation)
Most important stage is phallic stage- wherein the Oedipus & Electra complexes
emerge
This is necessary for identification with the same sex parent for gender
development & morality training
Fixation occurs when a drive is thwarted by parenting or other problems
Assessment of Freud’s theory today
While his theory is archaic today, many things in his theory generated much study
and have been worthwhile (defense mechanisms)
His view of the condition of man was negative- believing that the only hope for
man to negotiate life successfully is if he can love and work.
Theory was based on a small, skewed selection of subjects (his clients)
Freud did break through the narrow-minded thinking of psychologists of his
day
Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
Neo-Freudians developed out of Freud’s theory- Erikson added 2 things- lifetime
development & crises associated with each stage
Erikson believed children were active in their development, not at the mercy of
internal drives
Erikson also included the social & cultural components in ego development
He also expanded the concept of ego as something that helps us assess the social
realities of life
Eight Life Crises
Contributions & Criticisms of Erickson’s Theory
Erikson stresses our rational & adaptive nature, so it is inherently more hopeful
than Freud
His ideas about identity development & self concept have stimulated much
research
But Erikson could not adequately explain what influences heightened or
repressed healthy development
Other Neo-Freudians
Karen Horney- broadened Freud’s sexist views to equalize development for men
and women
Alfred Adler- examined sibling effects & birth order as a significant influence
Harry Stack Sullivan- examined early friendships as precursors of adult
intimacy
The Behaviorist Viewpoint- a reaction to psychoanalytic thought
John Watson’s Behaviorism- Watson believed children come into the world as a
blank slate (tabula rasa) on which the world writes and shapes their development
Little Albert (and Rosalie)
Watson made it clear that parenting was essential in developing a healthy child
– But his parenting style was cold & objective designed to reward good
behavior & ignore problematic behavior
Skinner’s Operant-Learning Theory (Radical Behaviorism)
Operant conditioning is based on the idea that people respond to positive
outcomes and don’t learn well from negative outcomes- behavior is driven by
environment rewards or punishers
– Operant – means the subject operates on the world
– Reinforcers- positive outcomes that result in the behavior being repeated
– Punishers- negative outcomes that result in the behavior diminishing or
ending
Bandura’s Cognitive Social Learning Theory
Bandura added the cognitive piece to the puzzle of external reinforcement/
punishment
– People act on their expectations or fears not just history of reinforcement
Observational (vicarious) learning- we learn from watching others & assessing
the rewards they are getting
Influences on Observational Learning
Beginnings of Imitation of Models
Infants engage in imitating others facial expressions, but those reactions are
reflexes & disappear after a month
Voluntary imitation comes in around a year, although some can show deferred
imitation after 6 months
Emulation is reproduction of a model’s behavior using slightly different means
Toddlers are more likely to imitate a friendly model & by 3 are more likely to
imitate successful behaviors rather than unsuccessful- they are selective imitators
Other influences on imitation
Younger toddlers are more likely to imitate playful displays; older toddlers will
also imitate instrumental behaviors- to solve problems, and even disciplinary
behaviors
Preschoolers learn best from imitation when they are induced to describe the
model’s behavior- Verbal mediators
Reciprocal Determinism
Watson saw children as passive dumpsters to fill with knowledge, however the
parent/ teacher decides
Bandura said children are not passive- they choose what to observe & imitate
Behavior is constantly being shaped based on choices & outcomes
Piaget’s Cognitive-Developmental Viewpoint
Piaget’s first significant study was with Binet in developing an IQ test for French
children- but he was more interested in the sources of their wrong answers
Using the clinical method of interviewing children he found that younger
children don’t think like older children & adults
Schemes
Piaget found children develop concepts, schemes, to understand new things
– Children are constructivists
Behavioral schemes- behaviors developed to deal with their experiences in the
world
Symbolic schemes- internal mental symbols
Operations- thinking logically using internal mental manipulations
Intellectual functions
Organization- combining existing schema into more complex forms to manage
new demands
Adaptation- tendency to adapt to changes in the environment
– Assimilation- adding similar events to existing schema
– Accommodation- building new schema to incorporate new events/
information
Stages of Cognitive Development
Children move through the stages in an invariant developmental sequence,
building on past stage information & not skipping any stages
Outcomes of Formal Thinking
Enables a more complex identity development
Enables broader expectations for one’s future
Enables teens to consider consequences of their behavior & minimize
spontaneous, dangerous behaviors
Enables idealistic thinking- outside the box that most adults are locked into- the
cause of the generation gap
But it also forces more critical thinking about oneself- adolescent egocentrism
Adolescent Egocentrism (Elkind)
Imaginary audience- teen confusing his thoughts & concerns with those of
others- feeling on stage, inspected & self-conscious
Personal fable- teen thinking his thoughts or experiences are unique, no one else
could understand
– Can produce risk-taking behaviors (it can’t happen to me)
Social Cognition
Piaget’s approach to children’s thought was broader than those who wanted to
merely test what children knew- he wanted to understand how people think and
choose behaviors & belief systems
Discovery learning came from his theory- letting children experiment freely in
school to determine the underlying truths of the experience