PSY C 2700
C hapter 2: T heories of H uman development
2011
O bjective 1: W hat are the characteristics of a good theory? W hat are the
basic theoretical issues applied to human development?
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A. T he nature of theories: L ens to interpret facts and observations:
A medical example: Cholera
Cholera is a disease which infects the intestines, causing diarrhea, vomiting
and leg cramps leading to a fatal loss of fluid leading to dehydration and
shock that can kill a person in hours
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Before our modern disease model of bacteria, people developed theories on
what caused cholera.
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One theory was that Cholera was associated with bad air (miasmata theory).
Swamps had bad air, usually in natural gas pockets, so the hypothesis was
that natural gas caused cholera.
A. T he nature of theories: T heories are guides for the collection of new
information
 If natural gas caused Cholera, several solutions can be derived: avoid bad air
(natural gas pockets), drain swamps…
 Example: Napoleon mapped out swamps in Egypt to avoid Cholera among
his troops.
 But data showed bad air was not related to Cholera outbreaks. Alternative
theories were explored: Dr. John Snow (1855) found contaminated water
was related to Cholera outbreaks.
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If contaminated water caused Cholera, solutions included clean water
sources, sterilize water, avoid contaminated foods
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It is now known that Cholera is an illness caused by a bacterium called
Vibria cholerae (discovered by Filippo Pacini in 1854 but lost for 30 years!).
Although Dr. Snow did not identify Vibria cholerae, his theory based on
1855 data on illness outbreaks are still valid today.
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Q ualities of a good theory
 Internally consistent,
 Falsifiable
 Supported by data
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B. Basic issues in human development (see page 30)
 Assumptions about human nature:
o Good, bad, or blank slate
 Nature versus nurture issue:
o Heredity/maturation vs environment
 Activity versus passivity issue:
o Children lead own development or not
 Continuity/discontinuity issue:
o Gradual change versus punctuated change
 Universality/context-specific issue:
o Developmental changes common to all or not
Compare example theories
Theory
Issue
 Assumptions human nature
 Nature versus nurture
 Activity vs. passivity
 Continuity/discontinuity
 Universality/context-specific
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Freud Erikson
Learning Piaget
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O bjective 2: W hat are the distinct features of each of the major introductory
theories:
o F reud
o E rikson
o L earning
o Piaget
o Gottlieb
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Specify the known weaknesses and strengths of each theory
A. F reud: Psychoanalytic theory: Conscious and unconscious forces interact to
control our thoughts and behaviors
o Humans viewed as selfish creatures driven by instincts (motivations) of
mental energies
o Freud used hypnosis, free association to “uncover” unconscious motives.
o Mental energies begin (at birth) with the ID—impulsive, irrational part of
personality which needs immediate gratification (pleasure).
o Rationality emerges with the EGO part of personality—based on the reality
principle: uses cognition, perception, problem solving.
o Perfection resides in the SUPEREGO part of personality—Internalizes
parent moral standard
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A. Freud’s psychosexual development stages
o Conflicts between social pressures and instinctual pressures lead to EGO
defense mechanisms
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Limited mental energy shifts from one body part to another:
O ral → Anal → Phallic → Latency → Genital o Oedipus and Electra complexes occur in Phallic stage
o Examples: Fixation and regression
A. Freud’s strengths and weaknesses o Difficult to test (not falsifiable), ambiguous, internally inconsistent, data
provided is weak (or nonexistent!)
o Freud’s general insights considered useful: o Historical context—proposed a range of ”normality” instead of a bipolar view of people as being either all rational or passionate (emotional)
o Unconscious motivation
o Importance of early experience, e.g. parenting
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B. E rikson: NeoF reudian Psychoanalytic theory
 Erikson is most prominent today
 Others: Adler, Jung, Horney
 Erikson described a psychosocial development through resolution of 8 crises
 Erikson’s differences with Freud:
1. Less emphasis on sexual and more on social influences
2. Less emphasis on ID, more on rational ego.
3. More positive view of human nature
4. More emphasis on developmental changes in adulthood
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Next page: Erikson’s 8 stages of Psychosocial development
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C. Psychosocial development
Trust versus mistrust Mother based, hope & faith
Autonomy versus shame & doubt Parent based, will & determination
Initiative versus guilt Family based, purpose & courage
Industry versus inferiority neighborhood & school, competence
Identity versus role confusion Peer groups & role models, fidelity and
loyalty
o Intimacy versus isolation partners & friends, love
o Generativity versus stagnation household & workmates, care
o Integrity versus despair humankind or “my kind,” wisdom
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C. Strengths and weaknesses of Erikson
o Rational, adaptive nature and social influences appear reasonable
o Has influenced thinking about adolescence and adulthood
o Theory is difficult to test, portions vague, data for some aspects
nonexistent
o Theory appears very broad in scope, research supports smaller elements
consistent with this theory
o Difficult to attribute to this theory, more often used as a description of
development rather than explanation
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D. T he learning theories: Refers to an enduring change in the way an
organism responds based on its experience
 Watson: Behaviorism—objective behavioral measurement, precise
definitions of stimuli/responses; learning based on S-R associations
 Skinner: Operant Conditioning: behavior function of consequences
 Bandura: Social Learning Theory: thinking links connection between
behavior and consequences; main mechanism of learning from observing
others and evaluating their successes
1.Watson—main points and phases of conditioning
 Only observed behavior should be studied
 Tabula rasa—only learned associations important
 Developed Classical Conditioning
 Baby Albert
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2. Skinner
 Reinforcers--consequences that increase probability of future response
 Punishers--consequences that suppress future response
 Developed Operant Conditioning: Skinner Box
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3.Bandura
 Cognitive abilities distinguish humans from other animals—we think about
behavior and anticipate consequences
 Observational learning is most important mechanism for behavior change
 Reciprocal determinism--mutual influence of individuals and social
environments
 Thinking occurs
 Goals formed
 Observational learning occurs
 Judge model
 Determine appropriateness of goals relative to outcomes
 Determine if you can do better
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D. Strengths and weaknesses of learning theories
 Learning theories are precise and testable
 Principles operate across the life span
 Practical applications
 Doesn’t show that learning actually causes observed developmental changes
 Oversimplifies development by focusing on experience and downplaying biological influences
E. Piaget’s theory
o Constructivism: People actively construct a knowledge of the environment—physical, psychological, and social.
o We develop theories of how life works.
o Stage progression: Biological maturation and environmental stimulation leads to 4 levels of thinking, called stages
o Cognitive structures develop
o Schemes are “basic units of what develops.
o Thoughts and actions are based on the underlying schemes (1000s each day).
o Schemes: Organized patterns of thought or action that aid in adaptation to environments
o Schemes organize into higher order schemes
E.Piaget’s stages
Stage
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete
Operational
Formal Operational
Complexity
External, nonsymbolic (can’t represent concepts/objects mentally)
Internal, symbolic (can represent
concepts/objects mentally, but limited)
Internal, logical, objects (represent
concepts/objects, limited to physical
Internal, logical abstract (represent
concepts/objects, abstract and physical)
E.Object Permanence: example
 Before “object permanence”
 Infant loses interest in object after
being hidden, as if object no longer
exists. No search occurs.
 After “object permanence”
 Infant/toddler now searches after
object hidden, acts as if there is an
understanding that objects still exist
after being hidden
E. Strengths and Weaknesses
o Acceptance of many concepts: people form cognitive structures, actively interpret world
o Influential in education and child rearing practices: set curriculum
o Too little emphasis on motivation and emotion: not really addressed
o Questioning of stage model: alternative models show gradual, but active cognitive structures developing
F. Gottlieb, Pinker Evolutionary Theory
o Impact of evolution on human behavior and development F. Strengths and weaknesses
 Emphasizes some neglected concepts
• Developmental impact of evolution.
• Impact of how behaviors which evolved in non-modern environment exists in a modern environment.