theories of human development - mc...

Theories of Human Development

Five Key Issues to AddressFive Key Issues to Address

• Goodness-Badness of human nature– Evidence of biologically-based tendencies

f d d b dfor good and bad• Nature-Nurture issue

Bi l i l f i t l f– Biological forces or environmental forces• Activity-Passivity issue

Are humans active agents in their own– Are humans active agents in their own development or passively shaped by forces beyond their control?y

Five Key Issues to AddressFive Key Issues to Address

• Goodness-Badness of human nature• Nature-Nurture issue• Activity-Passivity issue• Continuity-discontinuity issue

– Are changes over the lifespan gradual or abrupt (like stair steps)?Are changes quantitative (a matter of– Are changes quantitative (a matter of degree) or qualitative (changes in kind)?

• Universality-context-specificity issueUniversality context specificity issue– Are developmental changes common to all

humans or different across cultures, subcultures, contexts, and individuals?

Psychoanalytic Theory Psychoanalytic Theory

• Sigmund Freud (1885)– Unconscious forcesUnconscious forces

(instincts) drive human behavior

– Personality is divided into three structures related to development:• ID (present at birth)• EGO (~ age 1-2yrs)• SUPEREGO (~ age 4-5)


• Sigmund Freud (1885)– Psycho-sexual Stages ofPsycho sexual Stages of

Development– Each stage of involves:Each stage of involves:

• sexual interest and pleasure on a particular area of the body

• satisfaction that is linked with dev needs & challengeswith dev. needs & challenges

• potential conflict between child and parent


• Sigmund Freud (1885)– Psycho-sexual Stages ofPsycho sexual Stages of

Development1. Oral – infancy1. Oral infancy2. Anal – toddlerhood3. Phallic –3 to 6 years of agey g4. Latent – 6 to 12 years of

age5. Genital - adolescence


• Psycho-sexual Stages of Developmentp– Fixation– Oedipus Complex– Oedipus Complex– Electra


• Psycho-sexual Stages of Developmentp– Defense mechanisms

• Repression• Repression• Regression

P j ti• Projection• Reaction formation


• Strengths & Weaknesses• Weaknesses

– Theory said to be ambiguous, internally inconsistent, not testable, and therefore not falsifiable

• Strengths– Many insights have held up andMany insights have held up and

been influential• Called attention to unconscious

processesprocesses• Emphasized importance of early

experience• Emphasized importance of

emotions and emotional conflicts


• Erik Erikson (1950)– “Neo-Freudian”Neo Freudian– 8 Psycho-SOCIAL stages

Psychoanalytic Theory Psychoanalytic Theory E ik E ik (1950)• Erik Erikson (1950)



– Similar issues to Freud…vague and difficult to test

– Does not adequately explain HOWDoes not adequately explain HOW development occurs

• StrengthsM ti l th F d– More rational than Freud

– Hits on some central developmental issues

– Impacted ideas and research on adolescent dev.

Cognitive Theory Cognitive Theory

• Jean Piaget (1967)– ConstructivismPIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTConstructivism

Cognitive Theory Cognitive Theory • Strengths & Weaknesses• Strengths & Weaknesses• Weaknesses

– May have underestimated someMay have underestimated some childhood cognitive abilities

– Too little emphasis on role of parents and external motivationparents and external motivation

– Stages are really more of a slope/progression

St th• Strengths– Recogition that thinking changes

during childhood– Recognizes an interaction between

nature and nurture– Ideas largely supported byIdeas largely supported by

research– Influenced education/schools

Learning Theory Learning Theory

• J. B. Watson (1920s)Father of Behaviorism– Father of Behaviorism -the idea that external influences affect how weinfluences affect how we develop.

– Used model of Classical Conditioning demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov


• B. F. Skinner (1940s)“Radical Behaviorist”– Radical Behaviorist

– Operant Conditioning -behavior becomes more orbehavior becomes more or less likely depending on the consequences it producesq p


• Albert Bandura (1970s)Social Cognitive Theory– Social Cognitive Theory –learning occurs through imitation and identificationimitation and identification with others (modeling)

Learning Theory Learning Theory • Strengths & Weaknesses• Strengths & Weaknesses• Weaknesses

– Rarely demonstrated that learningRarely demonstrated that learning alone is responsible for developmental changes

– Too little emphasis on biologicalToo little emphasis on biological influences on development

• StrengthsL i th i t t bl– Learning theories testable

– Are useful across lifespan– Ideas used successfully in many y y

behavioral techniques for producing change

Systems Theory Systems Theory

• Systems theories attribute changes over the lifespan to ongoing, reciprocalp g g, ptransactions between a changing organism and a changing environmentg g– Examples

• Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological model• Bronfenbrenner s bioecological model• Gottlieb’s epigenetic psychobiological s stems pe specti esystems perspective


• Evolutionary Theory• Darwin inspired the field of ethology

– Study of animal behavior in the naturalStudy of animal behavior in the natural environment

– Ethologists suggest that human behaviorsEthologists suggest that human behaviors are the products of evolution and help humans adapt to their environment

Systems Theory Systems Theory Gottlieb’s Epigenetic Psychobiological

Systems Perspectivey pGottlieb’s Assumptions…• Development is the product of interacting

biological and environmental influences that form a larger system

• Evolution endowed humans with their current• Evolution endowed humans with their current genetic makeup

• Genes and environment interact becauseGenes and environment interact because humans actively change their environments– Biological and cultural evolution contribute

to change over time in the human species


Gottlieb’s Epigenetic System• Epigenesis: “over and above” genes• Epigenesis: over and above genes

– Nature and nurture (genes and environment) co-act to yield developmental outcomesto yield developmental outcomes

• Epigenetic process (influences on developmt)Activity of genes– Activity of genes

– Activity of neuronsO i ’ b h i– Organism’s behavior

– Environmental influences

Systems TheorySystems Theory


– Only partially formulated and testedNo coherent developmental theory– No coherent developmental theory

• Strengths– Calls attention to ongoing transactionsCalls attention to ongoing transactions

between the individual and the environment

Recap of TheoriesRecap of Theories

• Freud, Erikson, and Piaget– Stage theoristsStage theorists– Development guided in universal directions

by biological-maturational forcesby biological maturational forces– Parents are supporters of development

• Watson Skinner and Bandura• Watson, Skinner, and Bandura– Learning theorists

Emphasize environment more than biology– Emphasize environment more than biology– Parents are their children’s trainers

Recap of TheoriesRecap of Theories

• Systems Theorists– View biology and environment asView biology and environment as

inseparable components of a larger systemy

– Humans are active contributors to development, but environment also is an pactive participant.

– Parents are viewed as partners with their children in the development process

Putting it Together

• Pick a stage of life that was memorable or life changing then choose 2 events fromlife-changing, then choose 2 events from that time and explain from the perspective of:of:

»Freud»Erikson»Piagetg»Gottlieb

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