Themes and Theories of Human
Development
I.
What is a developmental theory?
A. Scientific theory
B. Characteristics of a good theory
1. Parsimony
2. Falsifiability
3. Heuristic Value
II. Questions and controversies in human development
A. Assumptions about human nature
1. Original sin
2. Innate purity
B. Nature versus nurture
C. Activity versus passivity
D. Continuity versus discontinuity
1. Stages of development
2. Qualitative/quantitative
3. Connectedness of development
III. Theories of human development
A. Psychoanalytic theory
1. Components of personality
2. Psychosexual development
B. Learning theory
1. Processes of learning
2. Social learning theory
C. Cognitive developmental theory
D. Ethological theory
E. Ecological theory
1. The importance of the natural environment
2. Environmental layers
What is a theory
What is a theory in general?
• A set of concepts or propositions that
describe and explain some aspect of
experience.
What is a developmental theory?
• A public pronouncement indicating
what a scientist believes about his or
her area specific area of investigation
What are the characteristics of a good
theory?
• Parsimony
• Concise, yet able to explain a wide
range of phenomena
• Falsifiability
• Capable of making explicit
predictions
• Heuristic value
• Can be applied to unknown
Question and controversies
about human development
• Assumptions about human nature
• Innate purity versus original sin
• Tabula rasa
• Nature versus nurture
• Activity versus passivity
• Continuity of development
• Stages of development
• Quantitative versus qualitative change
• Quantitative – changes in degree
• Qualitative – changes in kind
• Connectedness of development
• Similarity versus differences
Continuous versus
Discontinuous Development
Mature
Immature
Developmental Attribute
Continuous Development
Infant
Adult
AGE
Continuous versus
Discontinuous Development
Mature
Immature
Developmental Attribute
Discontinuous Development
Infant
Adult
AGE
Question and controversies
about human development
• Assumptions about human nature
• Innate purity versus original sin
• Tabula rasa
• Nature versus nurture
• Activity versus passivity
• Continuity of development
• Stages of development
• Quantitative versus qualitative change
• Quantitative – changes in degree
• Qualitative – changes in kind
• Connectedness of development
• Similarity versus differences
Theories of child development
Psychoanalytic viewpoint
Basic instincts
• Eros – the life instinct
• Thanatos – the death instinct
Components of the personality
• The Id – legislator of the personality
• The Ego – executive of the personality
• The Superego – judicial branch of the
personality
The theory of psychosexual development
• The oral stage (birth – 1 year)
• The anal stage (1 – 3 years)
• The phallic stage (3 – 6 years)
• The Oedipus complex
• Latency period (6 – 12 years)
• The genital stage (12 years on)
Evaluation of theory
Theories of child development
Learning theory (Behaviorism)
What is learning?
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Reinforcers
• Punishment
• Observational learning
Theories of social learning
Evaluation of theory
Theories of child development
Cognitive developmental theory
& Ecological theory
Cognitive developmental theory
• Children as constructivists
• Organismic theorist
Ethological theory
• Study of the biological bases of
behavior
• Includes evolution, causation and
behavior
• Children are born with innate
responses to evolution
• Prefer naturalistic observations
• Notion of a critical period
Theories of child development
Ecological theory
The importance of the natural environment
• Developmental psychology had
become “… the science of the strange
behavior children in strange situations
with strange adults for the briefest
possible periods of time.”
• The importance of studying children in
their natural environments
• Environmental influences and behavior
settings
Ecological theory
Environmental Layers