Lecture 2
Theories and methods of life-span
development
Researchers formulate problems and hypotheses within
theories.
Definition of Theory
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Theory of theory: A theory is an interrelated, coherent
set of statements that help to explain and to make
predictions.Often formalized in the natural sciences.
Practice of theory: A theory is a scientific worldview.
Requirements for a theory:

Popper: Falsifiability. A scientific theory should be
able to generate predictions that could be
disconfirmed.
Definition of Hypothesis

A hypothesis is a specific assumption or prediction
that can be tested to determine its accuracy.
Theories of
Development
Psychoanalytic
Theories
Ethological
Theory
Cognitive
Theories
Ecological
Theory
Behavioral and
Social Cognitive
Theories
An Eclectic
Theoretical
Orientation
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
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Medical doctor specializing in neurology -> Dynamic
approach
Developed ideas about psychoanalytic theory from work
with mental patients
Considered problems to be the result of experiences early
in life
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Psychoanalytic Theories
Mental life is primarily unconscious— beyond
awareness.
Mental life is heavily colored by emotion.
Early experiences with parents extensively shape
behavior.
Freud’s Structures of Personality
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Id
Ego
Superego
Psychosexual Development
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Five stages
Each stage focuses on a part of the body for
experiencing pleasure.
How conflicts between sources of pleasure are
resolved determines adult personality.
The Five Stages of Psychosexual Development
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The Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months)
The Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years)
The Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years)
The Latent Stage (6 years to puberty)
The Genital Stage (Puberty on)
The Oral Stage
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Pleasure centers around the mouth.
Chewing, sucking, biting are sources of pleasure.
The Anal Stage
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Pleasure centers around the anus.
Eliminative functions are sources of pleasure.
The Phallic Stage
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Pleasure focuses on the genitals.
Self-manipulation is a source of pleasure.
Oedipus Complex appears.
Definition of the Oedipus Complex

The Oedipus Complex is Freud’s term for the young
child’s development of an intense desire to replace
the same-sex parent and enjoy the affections of the
opposite-sex parent.
Resolution of the Oedipus Complex
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Children recognize that their same-sex parent might
punish them for their incestuous wishes.
To reduce this conflict, the child identifies with the
same-sex parent, striving to be like him or her.
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The Latent Stage
The child represses all interest in sexuality.
The child develops social and intellectual skills.
Energy is channeled into emotionally safe areas.
The child forgets the highly stressful conflicts of the
phallic stage.
The Genital Stage
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This is a time of
sexual reawakening.
The source of sexual pleasure comes from someone
outside the family.
When conflict is not resolved:
Individuals may develop a fixation
Definition of Fixation

A fixation occurs when the individual remains locked
in an earlier developmental stage because needs are
under- or over-gratified.
Examples of Fixations
 Oral - Due to a parent weaning too early, as an adult
the individual seeks out oral gratification through
smoking, drinking, gum chewing.
 Anal - Due to a parent being too strict with potty
training, as an adult the individual is excessively neat
and orderly (known as “Anal Retentive”).
 Phallic - Due to a parent punishing the child for
masturbating, as an adult the individual seeks out
pornography.
 Genital - Due to a parent smothering a child with too
much attention, as an adult the individual has
difficulty in romantic relationships due to being
extremely “needy.”
Erik Erikson (1902-1994)
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Recognized Freud’s contributions
Believed Freud misjudged some important
dimensions of human development
Developed the Psychosocial Theory of
Development
The Psychosocial Theory of Development
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The primary motivation for human behavior is
social and reflects a desire to affiliate with
other people.
Eight stages of development unfold
throughout the entire life span.
Each stage consists of a unique
developmental task that confronts individuals
with a crisis that must be faced.
The Psychosocial Theory of Development (cont’d)
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Crises are not catastrophes but rather turning points
of increased vulnerability and enhanced potential.
The more an individual resolves the crises
successfully, the healthier development will be.
Stages of Psychosocial Development
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Trust vs. Mistrust
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Initiative vs. Guilt
Industry vs. Inferiority
Identity vs. Identity Confusion
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Integrity vs. Despair
Example: Identity vs. Identity Confusion (Adolescence)
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Individuals are faced with finding out who they are,
what they are all about, and where they are going in
life.
Adolescents are confronted with many new roles and
adult statuses.
If the adolescent explores roles in a healthy manner
and arrives at a positive path in life, then positive
identity will be achieved.
If an identity is pushed on the adolescent by parents,
if the adolescent does not adequately explore many
roles, then identity confusion reigns.
Example: Intimacy vs. Isolation (Early Adulthood)
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Individuals face the developmental task of
forming intimate relationships with others.
Intimacy is defined as finding oneself yet
losing oneself in another.
Intimacy is achieved through the formation of
healthy friendships and an intimate
relationship with another individual.
Isolation results from failure to achieve the
above.
Example: Integrity vs. Despair (Late Adulthood)
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This involves reflecting on the past and either
piecing together a positive review or
concluding that one’s life has not been well
spent.
Integrity is achieved through reflecting on a
past deemed worthwhile.
If the older adult resolved many of the earlier
stages negatively, looking back will lead to
doubt or gloom (despair).
Contributions of Psychoanalytic Theories
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Early experiences play an important part in
development.
Family relationships are a central aspect of
development.
Personality can be better understood if it is examined
developmentally.
The mind is not all conscious; unconscious aspects
of the mind need to be considered.
Changes take place in the adulthood as well as the
childhood years (Erikson).
Criticisms of Psychoanalytic Theories
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The main concepts have been difficult to test.
Much of the data used to support these
theories come from individuals’ reconstruction
of the past, often the distant past.
The sexual underpinnings of development are
given too much importance by Freud.
Psychoanalytic theories are culture- and
gender-biased.
Cognitive Theories
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Piaget’s cognitive development theory
Vygotsky’s sociocultural cognitive theory
The information-processing approach
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
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Swiss psychologist
Observed his own children to develop theory of
cognitive development
Changed how we think about the development of
children’s minds
Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory
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Children actively construct their understanding of the
world.
Children progress through four stages of cognitive
development.
Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
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Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 yrs.)
Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs.)
Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 yrs.)
Formal Operational Stage (11 and up)
The Sensorimotor Stage
 Infants construct an understanding of the world by
coordinating sensory experiences with physical,
motor actions.
The Preoperational Stage
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Children begin to represent the world with words,
images, and drawings.
Definition of Operations
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Internalized mental actions that allow children to do
mentally what they previously did physically
The Concrete Operational Stage
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Children can perform mental operations.
Logical reasoning replaces intuitive thought, as long
as reasoning can be applied to concrete examples.
The Formal Operational Stage
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Individuals move beyond concrete experiences and
think in abstract, more logical terms.
Problem solving is more systematic and involves
hypotheses.
Mechanisms of Development
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Organization
Adaptation
Equilibration
Organization
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Tendency for parts of a system to form and to be
integrated into a whole.
Adaptation
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Assimilation: Incorporating new information into one’s
existing knowledge
Accommodation: Adapting one’s existing knowledge
to new information
Equilibration
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Every organism tends towards equilibrium with the
environment and equilibrium within itself.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory
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Shares Piaget’s view that children actively construct
their knowledge.
Emphasizes developmental analysis, the role of
language, and social relations.
Like Piaget, Vygotsky’s ideas were not introduced in
America until the 1960s.
Vygotsky’s 3 Basic Claims about Children’s
Development
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Cognitive skills have their origins in social relations
and are embedded in a sociocultural backdrop.
The child’s cognitive skills can be understood only
when they are developmentally analyzed and
interpreted.
Cognitive skills are mediated by words, language,
and forms of discourse.
The Information-Processing Approach
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Emphasizes that individuals manipulate,
monitor, and strategize about information.
Central are the processes of memory and
thinking.
Individuals develop a gradually increasing
capacity for processing information.
This enables the acquisition of increasingly
complex knowledge and skills.
Contributions of the Cognitive Theories
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They present a positive view of development,
emphasizing individuals’ conscious thinking.
They emphasize the individual’s active
construction of understanding.
Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories underscore
the importance of examining developmental
changes in children’s thinking.
The information-processing approach offers
detailed descriptions of cognitive processes.
Discussion
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What happened to our early childhood memories?
Criticisms of the Cognitive Theories
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There is skepticism about the pureness of Piaget’s
stages.
They do not give adequate attention to individual
variations in cognitive development.
Information processing doesn’t provide adequate
description of developmental changes in cognition.
Psychoanalytic theorists argue that the cognitive
theories do not give enough credit to unconscious
thought.
Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories
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These theories believe that scientifically we can only
study what can be directly observed and measured.
They also believe that development is observable
behavior that can be learned through experience with the
environment.
Classical Conditioning
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In the early 1900s, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov
discovered the phenomenon in which a neutral
stimulus acquires the ability to produce a behavioral
response originally produced by another stimulus.
Operant Conditioning
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B.F. Skinner demonstrated that the consequences of
a behavior produce changes in the probability of the
behavior occurring again.
Consequences can be either rewards (increasing the
likelihood of behavior recurrence), or punishment
(decreasing this chance).
Social Cognitive Theory
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Learning occurs through observing what others do,
as individuals cognitively represent what they see
and adopt the behavior themselves.
Albert Bandura and Walter Mischel believe that
cognitive processes are important mediators of
environment-behavior connections.
Contributions of Behavioral and Social Cognitive
Theories
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They emphasize the importance of scientific
research.
They focus on the environmental determinants of
behavior.
They underscore the importance of observational
learning (Bandura).
Criticisms of Behavioral and Social Cognitive Theories
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Pavlov and Skinner neglect cognition.
They put too much emphasis on environmental
determinants.
They are too mechanical and give inadequate
consideration to the spontaneity and creativity of
humans.
Ethological Theory
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Behavior is strongly influenced by biology.
Behavior is tied to evolution.
Behavior is characterized by critical periods.
Austrian zoologist Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989)
identified imprinting.
John Bowlby theorizes about attachment.
Definition of Critical Period
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A fixed time period very early in development during
which certain behaviors optimally emerge
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Definition of Imprinting
The rapid, innate learning within a limited critical
period of time that involves attachment to the first
moving object seen
Attachment
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A concept based on principles of ethological theory.
Attachment to a caregiver over the first year of life has
important consequences:
 Positive and secure attachment results in positive
development.
 Negative and insecure attachment
results in problematic development.
Contributions of Ethological Theory
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It has an increased focus on the biological and
evolutionary basis of development.
It uses careful observations in naturalistic settings.
It emphasizes critical periods of development.
Criticisms of Ethological Theory
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The critical period concept may be too rigid.
It places too strong an emphasis on biological
foundations.
It gives inadequate attention to cognition.
It has been better at generating research with
animals than with humans.
Ecological Theory
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Developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner.
Consists of 5 environmental systems:
 The Microsystem
 The Mesosystem
 The Exosystem
 The Macrosystem
 The Chronosystem
Contributions of Ecological Theory
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It provides a systematic examination of macro and
micro dimensions of environmental systems.
It gives consideration to sociohistorical influences on
development.
Criticisms of Ecological Theory
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Even with the added discussion of biological
influences in recent years, there is still too little
attention to biological foundations of development.
It gives inadequate attention to cognitive processes.
An Eclectic Theoretical Orientation
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Does not follow any one theoretical approach
Selects and uses whatever is considered best from
each theory
Methods
 Developmental designs
 Correlational versus experimental research
Developmental Designs
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The Cross-Sectional Approach
The Longitudinal Approach
The Sequential Approach
The Cross-Sectional Approach: Individuals of different
ages are compared at one time.
Pros
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Cons
Study can be
accomplished in a
short period of time.
Researchers don’t
have to wait for
subjects to age.
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Provides no
information about
how individuals
change.
Provides no
information about the
stability of
characteristics.
The Longitudinal Approach: The same individuals are
studied over a period of time.
Cons
Pros
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Provide a wealth of
information about
stability and change
in development.
Provide insight into
the importance of
early experience for
later development.
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Expensive and time
consuming.
Subjects more likely
to drop out due to
moving, losing
interest, or illness.
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The Sequential Approach
A combination of the cross-sectional and longitudinal
approach.
 Begins with a cross-sectional study of individuals
of different ages.
 Months or years later, the same individuals are
tested again along with a new group of subjects
for each age level.
The Sequential Approach (cont’d)
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Complex, expensive, and time consuming.
Provides information not obtainable through using
either the cross-sectional or longitudinal designs
alone.
Especially helpful in examining cohort effects in lifespan development.
Cohort Effects
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Cohort effects are due to
a
person’s time of birth or generation, but not to actual
age.
Correlational Research
 The goal is to describe the strength of the relation
between two or more events or characteristics.
 It needs to be used with caution as correlation does
not equal causation.
Experimental Research
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This allows researchers to determine the
causes of behavior.
It uses experimentation: carefully regulated
procedures in which one or more significant
factors is manipulated, and all others held
constant.
Experimental research involves independent
and dependent variables, experimental
groups, control groups, and random
assignment.