CHAPTER 2

THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Learning Objectives

• What are the five basic issues in human development?

• Where does each major theorist – Freud, Erikson, Skinner, Bandura, Piaget, and Gottlieb – stand on each of these issues?

Theories of Human Development

• Theory: Ideas proposed to describe/explain certain phenomena

– Organizes facts/observations

– Guides collection of new data

• Should be internally consistent

• Falsifiable: Hypothesis can be tested

• Supported by data

Other Assumptions About Human Nature

• Nature/Nurture: Heredity or environment most influential?

• Goodness/Badness: Underlying good or evil

• Active/Passive Development: Self determination or by others

• Continuity/Discontinuity: Stages or gradual change

• Quantitative/Qualitative Changes: Degree or transformation

• Universal or Context Specific Development

Learning Objectives

• What are the distinct features of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the theory?

Freud: Psychoanalytic Theory

• Instincts and unconscious motivation

• Id, Ego, and Superego formed from psychic energy (Libido)

– Id: Instinctual nature of humans

– Ego: Rational and objective

– Superego: Internalized moral standards

• Dynamic system: Regular

conflicts within

Freud’s Psychosexual Development

• Child moves through five stages

• Stages result from conflict between Id & Superego

• Conflict creates anxiety

• Ego defends against anxiety with defense mechanisms

• Early experiences have long-term effects on personality

Strengths and Weaknesses of Freud’s Theory

• Strengths

– Awareness of unconscious motivation

– Emphasized important early experience

• Weaknesses

– Ambiguous, inconsistent, not testable

– Not supported by research

Learning Objectives

• How does Erikson’s psychoanalytic theory compare to Freud’s theory?

• What crisis characterizes each of Erikson’s psychosocial stages?

Erik Erikson

• Most influential neo-Freudian

• Some differences with Freud

– Less emphasis on sexual urges

– More emphasis on rational ego

– More positive, adaptive view of human nature

– Development continues through adulthood

Erikson’s Stages: Approximate Ages

• Trust vs. Mistrust: Importance of responsive caregiver• Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt: Preschool• Initiative vs. Guilt: Preschool• Industry vs. Inferiority: School-age children• Identity vs. Role Confusion: Adolescence• Intimacy vs. Isolation: Young adult• Generativity vs. Stagnation: Middle age• Integrity vs. Despair: Old Age

Strengths and Weaknesses of Erikson

• Strengths

– Focus on identity crisis of adolescence still most relevant

– Emphasis on rational and adaptive nature

– Interaction of biological & social influences

• Weaknesses

– Sometimes vague and difficult to test

– Does not explain how development comes about

Learning Objectives

• What are the distinct features of the learning theories covered in this chapter: Watson’s classical conditioning, Skinner’s operant conditioning, and Bandura’s social-cognitive theory?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the learning theories?

Learning Theories: Classical Conditioning

• Behaviorism: Conclusions should be based on observable behavior only

• Tabula Rasa - Environmental view

• Association Learning

– UCS: Built-in, unlearned stimulus

– UCR: Automatic, unlearned response

– CS: Stimulus causes learned response

– CR: Learned response

• The three phases of classical conditioning

Learning Theories: Operant Conditioning

• Probability of behavior based on environmental consequences

– Reinforcement

• Pleasant consequence

• Increases probability

– Punishment

• Decreases probability

• Unpleasant, aversive

• Possible consequences of whining behavior.

• Moosie comes into the TV room and sees his father talking and joking with his sister. Lulu, as the two watch a football game. Soon Moosie begins to whine, louder and louder, that he wants them to turn off the television so he can play Nintendo games. If you were Moosie’s father, how would you react? Here are four possible consequences of Moosie’s behavior. Consider both the type of consequences – whether it is a pleasant or aversive stimulus – and whether it is administered (“added to”) or withdrawn. Notice that reinforcers strengthen whining behavior, or make it more likely in the future, whereas punishers weaken it.

Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory

• Formerly called social learning theory

– Humans think, anticipate, believe, etc.

• Cognitive Emphasis: Observational learning

– BoBo doll studies

– Model praised or punished

– Child learned to imitate rewarded model

– Vicarious reinforcement

Learning Theory: Strengths & Weaknesses

• Strengths

– Precise and testable theory

– Carefully controlled experiments

– Practical applications across lifespan

• Weaknesses

– Inadequate account of lifespan changes

– Ignored genetic and maturational processes

Learning Objectives

• What is Piaget’s perspective on cognitive development?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Piaget’s theory?

Piaget: Cognitive Developmental Theory

• Intelligence: Ability to adapt to environment

• Constructivism: Understanding based on experience

• Interactionist

– Both biological maturation and experience required for developmental progress

• At each new stage, children think in a qualitatively different way

Cognitive Developmental Theory

• Strengths

– Well-accepted by developmentalists

– Well-researched, mostly supported

– Influenced education and parenting

• Weaknesses

– Ignores motivation and emotion

– Stages not universal especially the last one

Learning Objective

• How do systems theories, in general, conceptualize development?

Contextual/Systems Theories

• Lev Vygotsky: Sociocultural perspective

– Cognitive development is a social process

– Problem solving aided by dialogues

• Gottlieb: Evolutionary/Epigenetic Systems

– Genes, neural activity, behavior, and environment mutually influential

– Normal genes and normal early experiences most helpful

Learning Objectives• What are the essential elements of Gottlieb’s

epigenetic psychobiological systems perspective of development?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the systems approaches to development?

Gottlieb – Developmental Psychobiology

• Interaction: Biological & environmental influences

• Individual programmed through evolution

• Current behavior results from past adaptation

• Ethology: Behavior adaptive to specific environments– E.g., food scarcity creates

nomadic behaviors– Species-specific behavior

of animals & humans

Nomadic people in tents in Turkey

Gottlieb: Epigenesis• Instinctual behavior may or may not occur

• Depends on early physical and social environments

• Genes alone don’t influence behavior

• A system of interactions

• People develop in changing contexts– Historical– Cultural

Strengths and Weaknesses

• Strengths– Stresses the interaction of

nature and nurture

• Weaknesses– Only partially formulated – and tested– No coherent developmental

theory

Learning Objective

• How can we characterize the theories in general?

Participation Question 1 (from Box 2.1)

• Directions: Choose one option for each statement and write down the corresponding letter.

Biological influences and learning experiences are

thought to contribute to development. Overall:

a. Biological factors contribute far more

b. Biological factors contribute somewhat more

c. Both biological and environmental factors

contribute equally

d. Environmental factors contribute somewhat more

e.Environmental factors contribute far more

Student Participation Question 2

Children are innately:a. Mostly bad; they are born with basically

negative, selfish impulsesb. Neither good nor bad; they are tabula

rasae (blank slates)c. Both good and bad; they are born with

predispositions that are both negative and positive

d. Mostly good; they are born with many positive tendencies

Student Participation Question 3

People are basically:

a. Active beings who are the prime determiners of their own abilities and traits

b. Passive beings whose characteristics are molded either by social influences (parents, other significant people, and outside events) or by biological changes beyond their control.

Student Participation Question 4

Development proceeds:

a. through stages so that the individual changes rather abruptly into a different kind of person than s/he was in an earlier stage

b. In a variety of ways – some stage-like, and some gradual or continuous

c. Continuously – in small increments without abrupt changes or distinct stages

Student Participation Question 5

When you compare the development of different individuals, you see:

a. Many similarities: Children and adults develop along universal paths and experience similar changes at similar ages

b. Many differences: Different people often undergo different sequences of change and have widely different timetables of development