Overview of the Morning
Human Development
Overview: Many types, three general principles, and two
processes
The Contexts of Development
Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model of Development
Micro- to Macro-System: Parents and Peers to Culture and Class
Learning Goals
1. Describe Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory.
2. Describe how parenting practices and family
transitions interact with the school system.
3. Describe how aspects of the peer context interact
with the school system.
4. Explain how broader contexts of development
influence microsystems and individual outcomes.
What is Development?
“The term development in its most general
psychological sense refers to certain changes that
occur in human beings (or animals) between
conception and death” (Woolfolk, 2007, p. 22).
Increasing differentiation and complexity
of thought, feeling and behavior
Development: Types and Theories
Many Types of Development
o
o
o
o
o
Physical
Cognitive
Personal and Social (Psychosocial)
Moral
Professional
Many Types of Developmental Theories





Biological (P: Unfolding)
Psychoanalytical (P: Need Fulfillment)
Cognitive (P x E Interactions)
Contextual (P x E Interactions)
Behavioral (E: Conditioning)
What Processes “Control” Development?
Two Forces/Processes…
Nature: Biology/Maturation -- Naturally occurring and, more or less,
genetically programmed changes
Nurture: Experience/Learning -- Change or growth that results form
our interactions with the world around us, natural and social
And their interaction:
Development as a function (a product) of nature and nurture:
D = f (Nature x Nurture); (Biology x Ecology); (Genetic Inheritance x
Environmental Constraints and Affordances)
*Similar to Kurt Lewin’s famous dictum that behavior is always
a function of the person times the environment:
B = f (P x E)
General Principles of Development
1. People develop at different rates
2. Development is relatively orderly
3. Development takes place gradually*
Physical Development
Bronfenbrenner’s
Bioecological Model of Human Development
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/materials/sysmdlo.html
General Descriptive Model of Behavior (B):
Nested Contexts, Multiple Levels of “E”
Society and Broader Culture
Parents and Local Community
School Org and Culture
Academic Subjects
Classrooms
Subjective
Dimensions
of Contexts
Student
B
Characteristics
Teachers
Objective
Dimensions
of Contexts
Contexts that Matter
What are the Most Influential “Contexts of Development”
for Children and Adolescents?
The Family
• Parenting Styles: Baumrind’s Four Styles
• Parental Transitions: Divorce and Remarriage
• Parental Employment: Two Incomes or One?
Peers
• Cliques and Crowds
• Statuses
Broader Contexts
• Cultural Factors
• Economic Factors: The Environment of Childhood Poverty (Evans,
2004)
Baumrind’s Four Parenting Styles:
Responsiveness includes affection,
acceptance and caring involved in parenting
Control= The
manner and
strictness with
which parents
provide limits
and discipline to
their children
• Higher achievement
• Better attitudes toward
school
• More time on homework
• More engaged with teachers
and learning
• Lower levels of maladaptive
behavior in class
Divorce and Remarriage
Stats and Facts
• 50% of all first marriages end in divorce
• 60% or more of second marriages end in
divorce
• Nearly half of U.S. children will live in
single-parent home for some time
Changes in Family Functioning
• Family Conflict - often increases around the
time of divorce
• Disorganized parenting practices - may
occur during divorce as parents cope with
their own distress
• Decreases in family economic status - job
changes and changes in living arrangements
Divorce/Remarriage and School
• Students from divorced and remarried families are more
likely to have lower achievement and behavioral problems.
• Students with supportive adult relationships outside the
family are less likely to experience difficulties.
• Teachers can form negative attitudes toward students with
these family circumstances.
• Sleeper Effect - difficulties encountered by adolescents
whose parents have been divorced for years
–
–
–
–
Drug and alcohol abuse
Behavioral problems
Poor school performance
Poor interpersonal relationships
Friendships
Early and middle childhood
– based on moment-to-moment interactions
Later childhood and early adolescence
– Based on more stable and similar qualities
Later adolescence
– Based on common values and more complex
interests
Peer Group Formation
Cliques - Small groups of two to eight people
who know each other well
– Similar in age, SES, race, and shared activities
Crowds - Larger, reputation-based peer
groups
– Ex: Populars/preps, jocks, brains/nerds,
normals, loners, druggies/stoners
Friendship and Schools
• Children with friends tend to have better
school performance and handle school
transitions better.
• Affiliations with cliques and crowds
promote social skills and identity formation.
• Teachers should attempt to foster
friendships among peers.
Peer Social Status
Determined by:
– Socially Appropriate Behaviors
– Aggressive Behaviors
• Overt aggression - Fighting; intent is to harm physically
• Relational aggression - Behaviors intended to damage
another child’s friendships, social status, or feelings of
inclusion
Peer Statuses of Children and Adolescents
Popular
Two Forms:
1. Sociometric popularity -- Students nominate peers who most/least like
• Not related to aggressive behaviors
2. Perceived popularity -- Students nominate peers who most/least popular
or “cool”
• Likely to have higher levels of overt or relational aggression
Rejected
Display aggressive behaviors without positive cooperation and
social skills
– Less well-liked by peers
– Members of smaller peer cliques
– May experience violence themselves
Neglected
Neither Popular nor Rejected
Peer Status and Schools
• Students perceived as popular, but not well-liked,
tend to be less academically engaged.
• Teachers and administrators tend to underestimate
bullying.
• Students who are well-liked by peers are
considered to be more academically engaged.
• Teachers tend to place blame for aggression on
more popular boys.
Culture and Parental Expectations
• Asian-American students report higher parental expectations
for school success.
• African-American students report high parental expectations,
but not as high as Caucasian-Americans.
• African-American parents are more skeptical about the benefits
of education, in light of perceived discrimination.
• African-American parents tend to be less involved in school
functions and to help less with homework.
• Asian-American parents tend to be highly invested in the
school system and to spend more time on homework.
Psycho-social Development
(Psycho)Social Development:
Self-Concepts and Self-Esteem in School
READ: Module 3 in BDR
Guiding Questions:
1. What are “self-concepts” and how do the change over time?
2. How, if at all, is self-esteem related to self-concepts?
3. To what extent can or should teachers promote students’ selfesteem? How might they do so?
Psychosocial Development: Self in Society
The “Eight Ages of Man”: Erik Erikson’s Developmental Theory
Modernity and Identity Achievement: James Marcia’s Four Statuses
Post-Modern Impression Management: MAMA Cycles
Self-Concepts vs. Self-Esteem: What’s the Difference?
Domain Specific Cognitive Structures vs. A Global Affective Reaction
Erik Erikson and his “Eight Ages of Man”
Background
*Born in Germany (1902-1994), dropped out of
high school, studied with Anna Freud in
Vienna
*Interested human psychological development,
particularly as it unfolds in a social
environment and leads to a sense of self as
connected to and in relation with others.
Causes of Psychosocial Development
Biological maturation (P) - Developmental Crisis
Social Experiences (E) - Parents, Siblings, Peers,
Teachers, Significant Others, etc.
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
Bohlin, Durwin, &
Reese-Weber Ed Psych:
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
• The labels represent a continuum rather than an
either/or choice.
• The way individuals resolve each crisis affects their
view of themselves and of society.
• Positive resolution of one crisis does not imply
positive resolution of the next.
• Negative resolution of one crisis also does not
imply negative resolution of the next.
http://www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/Overheads/IDStatus.htm
Understanding the Self
Self-Concept(s)
A cognitive perception about oneself (Thought)
Self-Esteem
An affective evaluation of oneself (Feeling)
Self-Concept
• Relates to educational setting as it includes
perceptions of one’s knowledge and abilities
in different domains
• A reciprocal relationship exists between
academic self-concept and achievement.
• A correlation exists between specific domains
of academic self-concept and achievement.
Factors Affecting Self-Concept
Age and Gender
– Young girls have more positive self-concepts.
– Middle-school-aged boys have higher self-concepts.
Domain/Subject Matter
– Males in general have more positive self-concepts in math
and science.
Exceptionalities
– Students with speech and language disorders have less
positive self-concepts for academic competence.
Increasing Self-Concept
1. Focus on domain-specific self-concepts.
2. Focus on domain-specific skills.
3. Focus on praising students and providing
feedback on their performance.
4. Focus on at-risk populations.
5. Focus on quality interaction.
Self-Esteem
• Global self-esteem - Singular, relatively
stable characteristic of the self
• Specific self-esteem - Separate components
related to particular domains
Factors Affecting Self-Esteem
• Students from higher SES families are likely to have
higher self-esteem.
• Girls score higher on global self-esteem until
adolescence.
• Transition to middle school is more detrimental to
self-esteem of girls.
• African Americans have higher self-esteem in
comparison to Whites.
• Ethnicity plays a larger role for minority groups than
for Whites.
The Exosystem in You:
Coolhunting
Teen Culture, Mass Media
and the Construction of “Cool”
“Coolhunters” and The Merchants of Cool
Moral Judgment & Education
Participation Activity
What would you do????
Moral Judgment and Education
Developmental Stages, Distinct Domains, and Different Voices?
What Would You Do???
Mrs. Bennett is 62 years old, and in the last phases of
colon cancer. She is in terrible pain and asks the doctor
to give her more pain-killer medicine. The doctor has
given her the maximum safe dose already and is
reluctant to increase the dosage because it would
probably hasten her death. In a clear and rational
mental state, Mrs. Bennett says that she realizes this,
but wants to end her suffering even if it means ending
her life.
Should the doctor give her an increased dosage?
What would you do if you were her doctor?
Why?
Theories of Moral Development
Theories of moral development have tended to
focus on moral reasoning; that is, the
thought processes individuals use in
determining right from wrong, rather than
on the behaviors they exhibit.
 Moral Behavior - an individual’s actions
 Moral Reasoning - an individual’s rationales
for determining right and wrong
Moral Reasoning: Jean Piaget
Two-Stage Theory of Moral Development:
1. Moral Realism (Heteronomy)
• Right and wrong are determined by
consequences given by authority figures.
–
Rules are absolute.
2. Morality of Cooperation (Autonomy)
• Children can see the complexities of right
and wrong.
–
In some situations, rules can be bent.
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
Background
Born in Bronxville, NY (1927-1987) and
trained as a developmental psychologist
His cognitive-structuralist theory of moral
development extended Jean Piaget work on the
formation of moral understanding and
reasoning.
Causes of Moral Development
Biology/Maturation - Stages theorized to follow an
invariant sequence (1 thru 6) tied to maturation.
Ecology/Social Experiences - Exposure to the higher
stages of thinking by others; Reasoning thru dilemmas
Kohlberg’s Three Level/Six Stage Model
Reasons for
“doing right”
primarily involve
the following at
each stage…
LEVEL II:
Conventional
Morality
LEVEL I:
PreConventional
Morality
LEVEL III:
PostConventional
Morality
Stage 6: Universal Morality – the “believe as a
rational person in the validity of universal moral
principles, and a sense of personal commitment to
them.”
Stage 5: Social Contract Morality – “a sense of
obligation to law because of one’s social contract to
make and abide by laws for the welfare of all.”
Stage 4: Social System Morality – concern for maintaining the
entire social system (i.e. – the procedures and laws of societal,
legal, and religious institutions)
Stage 3: Interpersonal Morality – the “need” to be a good person
in your own eyes and those of others…”
Stage 2: Instrumental Morality - maximizing the satisfaction of one’s own
needs or interests.
.
Stage 1: Heteronomous Morality
- avoidance of punishment and obeying
the superior power of authorities.
(Stage descriptions adapted from Colby and Kohlberg, 1987)
Advancing Moral Development
Parents





Induction - Explain discipline
Nurturance - Express warmth and affection
Demandingness - Set high standards
Modeling - Demonstrate examples of moral conduct
Democratic processes - Include children in decisions
Peers




Reciprocity – Give and take in peer relationships
Sharing – Especially important for younger children
Perspective-taking - Develops in peer relations
Peer interaction/dialogue - Important for moving to higher
levels of cognitive moral reasoning.
Criticism of Kohlberg:
Carol Gilligan’s “Different Voice”
• Argued that Kohlberg lacked attention to
women and excluded feminine perspective
• Argued that men are more justice-oriented
• And woman are more caring-oriented
• Subsequent research has not confirmed any
clear-cut gender difference.
Prosocial Behaviors:
Nancy Eisenberg
Focus on Positive Justice
Why do people do the right thing?
Five Level Model of Prosocial Reasoning
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Hedonistic or self-focused orientation
Needs orientation
Approval/interpersonal orientation
Self-reflective empathic orientation
Internalized orientation
Perspective Taking:
Robert Selman
Perspective-Taking
The ability to understand another person’s situation or state
Five-Stage Model of Development
Stage 0 - Egocentric viewpoint (ages 3-6)
Stage 1 - Social-informational role taking (6-8)
Stage 2 - Self-reflective role taking (8-10)
Stage 3 - Mutual role taking (10-12)
Stage 4 - Social and conventional system role taking (13-15)
Empathy Development: Hoffman
Empathy
The ability to experience the emotions or feelings of
another person
Empathy Development
Stage 1 - Global empathy (infancy)
Stage 2 - Egocentric empathy (toddlerhood)
Stage 3 - Empathy for another’s feelings
(childhood)
Comparison of Theories
Bohlin, Durwin, & Reese-Weber Ed Psych: Modules
Copyright 2009: McGraw-Hill Publishers