Child Development Theories

WHY IS CHILDHOOD CRUCIAL?

Research has shown that early childhood may be the most important life stage for brain development. A babys brain is about one quarter the size of an adults. Scientists have found that babies brains develop in response to stimulation. Arouses senses such as sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Babies who are stimulated develop more quickly and have a more secure self-image.

What is a theory?

A theory should allow us to predict and explain human behavior It should be stated in such a way that it can be shown to be false It must be open to scientific investigation

CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORISTS

Although researches dont always agree, scientific researchers have agreed upon the five following general rules.
Development

is similar for each individual Development builds upon earlier learning. Development proceeds at an individual rate. The different areas of development are interrelated. Development is a lifelong process.

Psychoanalytic Theories:

Freuds Psychosexual Theory

Personality has 3 parts

There are 5 stages of psychosexual development

Oedipus complex allows child to identify with same-sex parent Fixation is an unresolved conflict during a stage of development

Freudian Stages
Birth to 1 yrs
Oral Stage
Infants pleasure centers on mouth

1 to 3 yrs
Anal Stage
Childs pleasure focuses on anus

3 to 6 years
Phallic Stage
Childs pleasure focuses on genitals

6 yrs to puberty
Latency Stage

Puberty onward
Genital Stage

Child A time of represses sexual sexual reawakening; interest source of and develops sexual social and pleasure intellectual becomes skills someone outside of the family

Figure 2.1

Eriksons Psychosocial Theory:

There are 8 stages of psychosocial development Each has a unique developmental task Developmental change occurs throughout life span

Key points of psychoanalytic theories: Early experiences and family relationships are very important to development Unconscious aspects of the mind are considered Personality is best seen as a developmental process

Eriksons Eight Life-Span Stages Eriksons Stages Developmental Period

Trust vs Mistrust Infancy (first year) Autonomy vs shame & Infancy (1 to 3 years) doubt Initiative vs guilt Early childhood (3 to 5 years) Industry vs inferiority Middle and late childhood Identity vs identity Adolescence (10 to 20 years) confusion Intimacy vs isolation Early adulthood (20s, 30s) Generativity vs Middle adulthood (40s, 50s) stagnation Integrity vs despair Late adulthood (60s onward)
Figure 2.2

Cognitive theories:

Piagets cognitive developmental theory

Stresses conscious mental processes Cognitive processes are influenced by biological maturation Four stages of cognitive development in children Assimilation and accommodation underlie how children understand the world, adapt to it, and organize their experiences

Piagets Four Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor Stage:
The infant constructs an understanding of the world Birth to 2 by coordinating sensory experiences with physical years of age actions: progressing from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward end of the stage.

Preoperational Stage:
2 to 7 years of age The child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words and images reflect increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the connection of sensory information and physical action.

7 to 11 years The child can now reason logically about concrete of age events and classify objects into different sets. 1115 years of age through adulthood
Figure 2.3

Concrete Operational Stage:

Formal Operational Stage

The adolescent reasons in more abstract idealistic and logical ways.

Vygotskys sociocultural cognitive theory

Children actively construct their knowledge Social interaction and culture guide cognitive development Learning is based upon inventions of society Knowledge is created through interactions with other people and objects in the culture Less skilled persons learn from the more skilled

Information-processing theory

Compares computers to the human mind Thinking is information processing

Information-Processing Theory
geography

literature
science

INPUT
Information is taken into brain

OUTPUT
Information is used as basis of behaviors and interactions Information gets processed, analyzed, and stored until use

history

religion

math

Banduras Social Cognitive Model

Behavior

Person (cognitive)

Environment

Figure 2.4

Banduras Modeling/Imitation

Child observes someone admired

Child imitates behavior that seems rewarded

Urie Bronfenbrenners ecological theory:

Environmental factors influence development 5 environmental systems affect life-span development

Eclectic theoretical orientation:

Selects features from other theories No one theory has all the answers Each theory can make a contribution to understanding life-span development

Political philosophy

Exosystem

School system

Mesosystems

Family

School & classroom

Chronosystem

Religion & groups

Peer group

Bronfenbrenners Ecological Theory of Development

Macrosystem

Figure 2.5

Observed correlation: as permissive parenting increases, childrens self-control decreases

Permissive parenting Childrens lack of self-control causes Childrens lack of self-control Permissive parenting

causes

Other factors, such as genetic tendencies, poverty, and sociohistorical circumstances

Permissive parenting
cause both and Childrens lack of self-control

Possible Explanations for Correlational Data

Figure 2.9

Group 1

Time playing video games: 2 hours each day

More playful and sociable

Group 2

Time playing video games: 6 hours each day

More aggressive and antisocial

OTHER INFLUENCES ON DEVELOPMENT

Heredity
Blood

type, eye color, and hair color

Environment
Children

also learn attitudes and beliefs from their environments