Freud's Psychosexual Developmental Theory

Psychoanalytic theory originated with the work of Sigmund Freud. Through his clinical work with
patients suffering from mental illness, Freud came to believe that childhood experiences and
unconscious desires influenced behavior.

According to Freud, conflicts that occur during each of these stages can have a lifelong influence on
personality and behavior. Freud proposed one of the best-known grand theories of child development.

According to Freud’s psychosexual theory, child development occurs in a series of stages focused on
different pleasure areas of the body. During each stage, the child encounters conflicts that play a
significant role in the course of development.

His theory suggested that the energy of the libido was focused on different erogenous zones at specific
stages. Failure to progress through a stage can result in fixation at that point in development, which
Freud believed could have an influence on adult behavior.

So what happens as children complete each stage? And what might result if a child does poorly during a
particular point in development? Successfully completing each stage leads to the development of a
healthy adult personality.

Failing to resolve the conflicts of a particular stage can result in fixations that can then have an influence
on adult behavior.

While some other child development theories suggest that personality continues to change and grow
over the entire lifetime, Freud believed that it was early experiences that played the greatest role in
shaping development. According to Freud, personality is largely set in stone by the age of five.

Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development

Erikson's Psychosocial Developmental Theory

Psychoanalytic theory was an enormously influential force during the first half of the twentieth century.
Those inspired and influenced by Freud went on to expand upon Freud's ideas and develop theories of
their own. Of these neo-Freudians, Erik Erikson's ideas have become perhaps the best known.

Erikson's eight-stage theory of psychosocial development describes growth and change throughout life,
focusing on social interaction and conflicts that arise during different stages of development.

While Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development shared some similarities with Freud's, it is
dramatically different in many ways. Rather than focusing on sexual interest as a driving force in
development, Erikson believed that social interaction and experience played decisive roles.

His eight-stage theory of human development described this process from infancy through death.
During each stage, people are faced with a developmental conflict that impacts later functioning and
further growth.

Unlike many other developmental theories, Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory focuses on development
across the entire lifespan. At each stage, children and adults face a developmental crisis that serves as a
major turning point.

Successfully managing the challenges of each stage leads to the emergence of a lifelong psychological
virtue.

Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development

Behavioral Child Development Theories

During the first half of the twentieth century, a new school of thought known as behaviorism rose to
become a dominant force within psychology. Behaviorists believed that psychology needed to focus only
on observable and quantifiable behaviors in order to become a more scientific discipline.
According to the behavioral perspective, all human behavior can be described in terms of environmental
influences. Some behaviorists, such as John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, insisted that learning occurs
purely through processes of association and reinforcement.

Behavioral theories of child development focus on how environmental interaction influences behavior
and is based on the theories of theorists such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner. These
theories deal only with observable behaviors. Development is considered a reaction to rewards,
punishments, stimuli, and reinforcement.

This theory differs considerably from other child development theories because it gives no consideration
to internal thoughts or feelings. Instead, it focuses purely on how experience shapes who we are.

Two important types of learning that emerged from this approach to development are classical
conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning involves learning by pairing a naturally
occurring stimulus with a previously neutral stimulus. Operant conditioning utilizes reinforcement and
punishment to modify behaviors.

Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory

Cognitive theory is concerned with the development of a person's thought processes. It also looks at
how these thought processes influence how we understand and interact with the world.

Theorist Jean Piaget proposed one of the most influential theories of cognitive development.

Piaget proposed an idea that seems obvious now, but helped revolutionize how we think about child
development: Children think differently than adults.2

His cognitive theory seeks to describe and explain the development of thought processes and mental
states. It also looks at how these thought processes influence the way we understand and interact with
the world.
Piaget then proposed a theory of cognitive development to account for the steps and sequence of
children's intellectual development.

Sensorimotor Stage: A period of time between birth and age two during which an infant's knowledge of
the world is limited to his or her sensory perceptions and motor activities. Behaviors are limited to
simple motor responses caused by sensory stimuli.

Pre-Operational Stage: A period between ages 2 and 6 during which a child learns to use language.
During this stage, children do not yet understand concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate
information and are unable to take the point of view of other people.

Concrete Operational Stage: A period between ages 7 and 11 during which children gain a better
understanding of mental operations. Children begin thinking logically about concrete events but have
difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts.

Formal Operational Stage: A period between age 12 to adulthood when people develop the ability to
think about abstract concepts. Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic
planning also emerge during this stage.

Piaget's Four Stages of Development

Bowlby's Attachment Theory

There is a great deal of research on the social development of children. John Bowbly proposed one of
the earliest theories of social development. Bowlby believed that early relationships with caregivers play
a major role in child development and continue to influence social relationships throughout life.3

Bowlby's attachment theory suggested that children are born with an innate need to form attachments.
Such attachments aid in survival by ensuring that the child receives care and protection. Not only that,
but these attachments are characterized by clear behavioral and motivational patterns.

In other words, both children and caregivers engage in behaviors designed to ensure proximity. Children
strive to stay close and connected to their caregivers who in turn provide a safe haven and a secure base
for exploration.

Researchers have also expanded upon Bowlby's original work and have suggested that a number of
different attachment styles exist. Children who receive consistent support and care are more likely to
develop a secure attachment style, while those who receive less reliable care may develop an
ambivalent, avoidant, or disorganized style.
Understanding Attachment Theory

Bandura's Social Learning Theory

Social learning theory is based on the work of psychologist Albert Bandura. Bandura believed that the
conditioning and reinforcement process could not sufficiently explain all of human learning.

For example, how can the conditioning process account for learned behaviors that have not been
reinforced through classical conditioning or operant conditioning According to social learning theory,
behaviors can also be learned through observation and modeling.

By observing the actions of others, including parents and peers, children develop new skills and acquire
new information.

Bandura's child development theory suggests that observation plays a critical role in learning, but this
observation does not necessarily need to take the form of watching a live model.4

Instead, people can also learn by listening to verbal instructions about how to perform a behavior as
well as through observing either real or fictional characters displaying behaviors in books or films.

How Social Learning Theory Works

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

Another psychologist named Lev Vygotsky proposed a seminal learning theory that has gone on to
become very influential, especially in the field of education. Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that children
learn actively and through hands-on experiences.5

His sociocultural theory also suggested that parents, caregivers, peers and the culture at large were
responsible for developing higher-order functions. In Vygotsky's view, learning is an inherently social
process. Through interacting with others, learning becomes integrated into an individual's
understanding of the world.
This child development theory also introduced the concept of the zone of proximal development, which
is the gap between what a person can do with help and what they can do on their own. It is with the
help of more knowledgeable others that people are able to progressively learn and increase their skills
and scope of understanding.

Sociocultural Theory: Examples and Applications

A Word From Verywell

As you can see, some of psychology's best-known thinkers have developed theories to help explore and
explain different aspects of child development. While not all of these theories are fully accepted today,
they all had an important influence on our understanding of child development.

Today, contemporary psychologists often draw on a variety of theories and perspectives in order to
understand how kids grow, behave, and think. These theories represent just a few of the different ways
of thinking about child development.

In reality, fully understanding how children change and grow over the course of childhood requires
looking at many different factors that influence physical and psychological growth. Genes, the
environment, and the interactions between these two forces determine how kids grow physically as well
as mentally.

Theories of Development

Theories of Development

What is a theory?

Students sometimes feel intimidated by theory; even the phrase, “Now we are going to look at some
theories…” is met with blank stares and other indications that the audience is now lost. But theories are
valuable tools for understanding human behavior; in fact they are proposed explanations for the “how”
and “whys” of development. Have you ever wondered, “Why is my 3 year old so inquisitive?” or “Why
are some fifth graders rejected by their classmates?” Theories can help explain these and other
occurrences. Developmental theories offer explanations about how we develop, why we change over
time, and the kinds of influences that impact development.
A theory guides and helps us interpret research findings as well. It provides the researcher with a
blueprint or model to be used to help piece together various studies. Think of theories as guidelines
much like directions that come with an appliance or other object that required assembly. The
instructions can help one piece together smaller parts more easily than if trial and error are used.

Theories can be developed using induction in which a number of single cases are observed and after
patterns or similarities are noted, the theorist develops ideas based on these examples. Established
theories are then tested through research; however, not all theories are equally suited to scientific
investigation. Some theories are difficult to test but are still useful in stimulating debate or providing
concepts that have practical application. Keep in mind that theories are not facts; they are guidelines for
investigation and practice, and they gain credibility through research that fails to disprove them. (3)

Psychodynamic Theory

We begin with the often controversial figure, Sigmund Freud. Freud has been a very influential figure in
the area of development; his view of development and psychopathology dominated the field of
psychiatry until the growth of behaviorism in the 1950s.

Freud’s assumption that personality forms during the first few years of life and that the ways in which
parents or other caregivers interact with children have a long-lasting impact on children’s emotional
states have guided parents, educators, clinicians, and policy-makers for many years. We have only
recently begun to recognize that early childhood experiences do not always result in certain personality
traits or emotional states. There is a growing body of literature addressing resiliency in children who
come from harsh backgrounds and yet develop without damaging emotional scars (O’Grady and Metz,
1987). Freud has stimulated an enormous amount of research and generated many ideas. Agreeing with
Freud’s theory in its entirety is hardly necessary for appreciating the contribution he has made to the
field of development. (4)

Sigmund Freud: Background

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) was a Viennese M. D. who was trained in neurology and asked to work with
patients suffering from hysteria, a conditioned marked by uncontrollable emotional outbursts, fears and
anxiety that had puzzled physicians for centuries. He was also asked to work with women who suffered
from physical symptoms and forms of paralysis, which had no organic causes. During that time, many
people believed that certain individuals were genetically inferior and thus more susceptible to mental
illness. Women were thought to be genetically inferior and thus prone to illnesses such as hysteria
(which had previously been attributed to a detached womb which was traveling around in the body).

However, after World War I, many soldiers came home with problems similar to hysteria. This called into
questions the idea of genetic inferiority as a cause of mental illness. Freud began working with patients
suffering from hysteria and discovered that when they began to talk about some of their life
experiences, particularly those that took place in early childhood, their symptoms disappeared. This led
him to suggest the first purely psychological explanation for physical problems and mental illness. What
he proposed was that unconscious motives and desires, fears and anxieties drive our actions. When
upsetting memories or thoughts begin to find their way into our consciousness, we develop defenses to
shield us from these painful realities.

These defense mechanisms include:

Denying a reality

Repressing or pushing away painful thoughts

Rationalizing or finding a seemingly logical explanation for circumstances

Projecting or attributing our feelings to someone else

Outwardly opposing something we inwardly desire (called reaction formation)

Freud believed that many mental illnesses are a result of a person’s inability to accept reality. Freud
emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping our personality and behavior. In
our natural state, we are biological beings. We are driven primarily by instincts. During childhood,
however, we begin to become social beings as we learn how to manage our instincts and transform
them into socially acceptable behaviors. The type of parenting the child receives has a very powerful
impact on the child’s personality development. We will explore this idea further in our discussion of
psychosexual development. (4)

Freud’s Theories of Development

This section introduces Freud’s theories of development. These include:

Theory of the Mind

Theory of the Self

Psychosexual Stages (1)

Theory of the Mind

Freud believed that most of our mental processes, motivations and desires are outside of our
awareness. Our consciousness, that of which we are aware, represents only the tip of the iceberg that
comprises our mental state. The preconscious represents that which can easily be called into the
conscious mind. During development, our motivations and desires are gradually pushed into the
unconscious because raw desires are often unacceptable in society.

Theory of the Self

As adults, our personality or self consists of three main parts:

Id

Ego

Superego

The id is the part of the self with which we are born. It consists of the biologically-driven self and
includes our instincts and drives. It is the part of us that wants immediate gratification. Later in life, it
comes to house our deepest, often unacceptable desires, such as sex and aggression. It operates under
the pleasure principle , which means that the criteria for determining whether something is good or bad
is whether it feels good or bad. An infant is all id.

The ego is the part of the self that develops as we learn that there are limits on what is acceptable to do
and that often we must wait to have our needs satisfied. This part of the self is realistic and reasonable.
It knows how to make compromises. It operates under the reality principle or the recognition that
sometimes need gratification must be postponed for practical reasons. It acts as a mediator between
the id and the superego and is viewed as the healthiest part of the self.

Here is an abbreviated listing of defense mechanisms suggested by Freud. If the ego is strong, the
individual is realistic and accepting of reality and remains more logical, objective, and reasonable.
Building ego strength is a major goal of psychoanalysis (Freudian psychotherapy). So for Freud, having a
big ego is a good thing because it does not refer to being arrogant, it refers to being able to accept
reality.
Defense mechanisms emerge to help a person distort reality so that the truth is less painful. Defense
mechanisms include:

Repression : To push the painful thoughts out of consciousness (in other words, think about something
else).

Denial : Not accepting the truth or lying to the self. Thoughts such as “it won’t happen to me” or “you’re
not leaving” or “I don’t have a problem with alcohol” are examples.

Regression : Refers to “going back in time” when the world felt like a safer place, perhaps reverting to
one’s childhood. This is less common than the first two defense mechanisms.

Sublimation : Involves transforming unacceptable urges into more socially acceptable behaviors. For
example, a teenager who experiences strong sexual urges uses exercise to redirect those urges into
more socially acceptable behavior.

Displacement : Involves taking out frustrations on to a safer target. A person who is angry with a
supervisor may take out their frustration at others when driving home or at a spouse upon arrival.

Projection : Defense mechanism in which a person attributes their unacceptable thoughts onto others. If
someone is frightened, for example, he or she accuses someone else of being afraid.

Reaction formation: Defense mechanism in which a person outwardly opposes something they inwardly
desire, but that they find unacceptable. An example of this might be homophobia or a strong hatred and
fear of homosexuality.

The superego is the part of the self that develops as we learn the rules, standards, and values of society.
This part of the self takes into account the moral guidelines that are a part of our culture. It is a rule-
governed part of the self that operates under a sense of guilt (guilt is a social emotion-it is a feeling that
others think less of you or believe you to be wrong). If a person violates the superego, he or she feels
guilty. The superego is useful but can be too strong; in this case, a person might feel overly anxious and
guilty about circumstances over which they had no control. Such a person may experience high levels of
stress and inhibition that keeps them from living well. The id is inborn, but the ego and superego
develop during the course of our early interactions with others. These interactions occur against a
backdrop of learning to resolve early biological and social challenges and play a key role in our
personality development.

Psychosexual Stages
Freud’s psychosexual stages of development are presented below. At any of these stages, the child
might become “stuck” or fixated if a caregiver either overly indulges or neglects the child’s needs. A
fixated adult will continue to try and resolve this later in life.

For about the first year of life, the infant is in the oral stage of psychosexual development. The infant
meets needs primarily through oral gratification. A baby wishes to suck or chew on any object that
comes close to the mouth. Babies explore the world through the mouth and find comfort and
stimulation as well. Psychologically, the infant is all id. The infant seeks immediate gratification of needs
such as comfort, warmth, food, and stimulation. If the caregiver meets oral needs consistently, the child
will move away from this stage and progress further. However, if the caregiver is inconsistent or
neglectful, the person may stay stuck in the oral stage. As an adult, the person might not feel good
unless involved in some oral activity such as eating, drinking, smoking, nail biting, or compulsive talking.
These actions bring comfort and security when the person feels insecure, afraid, or bored.

During the anal stage , which coincides with toddlerhood or mobility and potty training, the child is
taught that some urges must be contained and some actions postponed. There are rules about certain
functions and when and where they are to be carried out. The child is learning a sense of self-control.
The ego is being developed. If the caregiver is extremely controlling about potty training (stands over
the child waiting for the smallest indication that the child might need to go to the potty and immediately
scoops the child up and places him on the potty chair, for example), the child may grow up fearing losing
control. He may become fixated in this stage or “anal retentive,” that is, fearful of letting go. Such a
person might be extremely neat and clean, organized, reliable, and controlling of others. If the caregiver
neglects to teach the child to control urges, he may grow up to be “anal expulsive” or an adult who is
messy, irresponsible, and disorganized.

The phallic stage occurs during the preschool years (ages 3–5) when the child has a new biological
challenge to face. Freud believed that the child becomes sexually attracted to his or her opposite sexed
parent.

Boys experience the “Oedipal Complex” in which they become sexually attracted to their mothers but
realize that Father is in the way. He is much more powerful. For a while, the boy fears that if he pursues
his mother, father may castrate him (castration anxiety). So rather than risking losing his penis, he gives
up his affections for his mother and instead learns to become more like his father, imitating his actions
and mannerisms and thereby learns the role of males in his society. From this experience, the boy learns
a sense of masculinity. He also learns what society thinks he should do and experiences guilt if he does
not comply. In this way, the superego develops. If he does not resolve this successfully, he may become
a “phallic male” or a man who constantly tries to prove his masculinity (about which he is insecure) by
seducing women and beating up men.

Girls experience the “Electra Complex” in which she develops an attraction for her father but realizes
that she cannot compete with mother and so gives up that affection and learns to become more like her
mother. This is not without some regret, however. Freud believed that the girl feels inferior because she
does not have a penis (experiences “penis envy”). But she must resign herself to the fact that she is
female and will just have to learn her inferior role in society as a female. However, if she does not
resolve this conflict successfully, she may have a weak sense of femininity and grow up to be a
“castrating female” who tries to compete with men in the workplace or in other areas of life.

During middle childhood (6–11), the child enters the latent stage focusing his or her attention outside
the family and toward friendships. The biological drives are temporarily quieted (latent) and the child
can direct attention to a larger world of friends. If the child is able to make friends, he or she will gain a
sense of confidence. If not, the child may continue to be a loner or shy away from others, even as an
adult.

The final stage of psychosexual development is referred to as the genital stage . From adolescence
throughout adulthood a person is preoccupied with sex and reproduction. The adolescent experiences
rising hormone levels and the sex drive and hunger drives become very strong. Ideally, the adolescent
will rely on the ego to help think logically through these urges without taking actions that might be
damaging. An adolescent might learn to redirect his or her sexual urges into safer activity, such as
running. Quieting the id with the superego can lead to feeling overly self-conscious and guilty about
these urges. Hopefully, it is the ego that is strengthened during this stage and the adolescent uses
reason to manage urges.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Freud’s Theory

Freud’s theory has been heavily criticized for several reasons. One is that it is very difficult to test
scientifically. How can parenting in infancy be traced to personality in adulthood? Are there other
variables that might better explain development? The theory is also considered to be sexist in suggesting
that women who do not accept an inferior position in society are somehow psychologically flawed.
Freud focuses on the darker side of human nature and suggests that much of what determines our
actions is unknown to us. So why do we study Freud? As mentioned above, despite the criticisms,
Freud’s assumptions about the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping our psychological
selves have found their way into child development, education, and parenting practices. Freud’s theory
has heuristic value in providing a framework to elaborate and modify subsequent theories of
development. Many later theories, particularly behaviorism and humanism, were challenges to Freud’s
views. (4)
Psychosocial Theory

Now, let’s turn to a less controversial psychodynamic theorist, the father of developmental psychology,
Erik Erikson.

Erik Erikson (1902–1994) was a student of Freud’s and expanded on his theory of psychosexual
development by emphasizing the importance of culture in parenting practices and motivations and
adding three stages of adult development (Erikson, 1950; 1968). He believed that we are aware of what
motivates us throughout life and the ego has greater importance in guiding our actions than does the id.
We make conscious choices in life and these choices focus on meeting certain social and cultural needs
rather than purely biological ones. Humans are motivated, for instance, by the need to feel that the
world is a trustworthy place, that we are capable individuals, that we can make a contribution to society,
and that we have lived a meaningful life. These are all psychosocial problems. Erikson divided the life
span into eight stages. In each stage, we have a major psychosocial task to accomplish or crisis to
overcome. Erikson believed that our personality continues to take shape throughout our life span as we
face these challenges in living. We will discuss each of these stages in length as we explore each period
of the life span, but here is a brief overview.

The Ego Rules

Psychosocial Stages

Trust vs. mistrust (0–1): infant must have basic needs met in a consistent way in order to feel that the
world is a trustworthy place

Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (1–2): mobile toddlers have newfound freedom they like to exercise and
by being allowed to do so, they learn some basic independence

Initiative vs. Guilt (3–5): preschoolers like to initiate activities and emphasize doing things “all by myself”

Industry vs. inferiority (6–11): school aged children focus on accomplishments and begin making
comparisons between themselves and their classmates

Identity vs. role confusion (adolescence): teenagers are trying to gain a sense of identity as they
experiment with various roles, beliefs, and ideas

Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood): in our 20s and 30s we are making some of our first long-term
commitments in intimate relationships

Generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood): 40s through the early 60s we focus on being productive
at work and home and are motivated by wanting to feel that we’ve made a contribution to society
Integrity vs. Despair (late adulthood): we look back on our lives and hope to like what we see; that we
have lived well and have a sense of integrity because we lived according to our beliefs. (5)

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What Are Some Of The Major Theories Of Development?

HomeInfants ToddlersWhat Are Some Of The Major Theories Of Development?

What Are Some Of The Major Theories Of Development?

This article explores the major theories of child development experts.

© iStockphoto | warrengoldswain

By Steven Schlozman, MD

Posted in: Infants & Toddlers, Pre-School, Young Adults

Topics: Child + Adolescent Development

When child development experts talk about the study of development, they have in mind some
fundamental theories of development that were codified by brilliant clinicians and scientists well before
we had the technology to correlate them to brain development.

In this post, we’ll pay homage to these theorists. After all, every clinician who works with kids routinely
and almost reflexively thinks of these scholars. The irony is that the theories are so pervasive and
useful, that often the beginnings of these theories are lost in the story. Understanding how these
theories came into being can therefore help to direct therapists and parents when they’re deciding how
best to understand their children.

Roughly speaking, these theories can be categorized as emotional, cognitive and moral. Erik Erikson
developed the most common theories of emotional development. Jean Piaget developed the most
common theories of cognitive development. And, Lawrence Kohlberg developed the dominant theories
of moral development.

Let’s look at Erikson first.

Erikson saw the world as a series of age-matched developmental crises, and he conceptualized these
crises as binary and competing values. He didn’t think of the crises as bad things; rather, each crisis
represented an opportunity to move forward.

Infancy, for example, is characterized by Trust (a positive value) versus Mistrust (a negative value).
Adolescence is a battle between Identity Formation (good) versus Role Diffusion (bad). According to
Erickson, if these binary crises are not successfully negotiated—if an infant, for instance, can’t trust the
adults of the world to keep him warm and fed and held—then that infant will grow up with a
fundamental lack of trust, and at some point, will have to actively address this issue. These ideas
actually stem directly from the psychoanalytic notions that Sigmund Freud put on the map, namely that
past experience influences future feelings and behaviors. Erickson studied children and adults, and he
characterized each stage of development as follows:

Hope: Trust vs. Mistrust (2 years)

Will: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt (2-4 years)

Purpose: Initiative vs. Guilt (Preschool, 4-5 years)

Competence: Industry vs. Inferiority (5-12 years)

Fidelity: Identity vs. Role Confusion (13-19 years)

Love: Intimacy vs. Isolation (20-40 years)

Care: Generativity vs. Stagnation (40-64 years)

Wisdom: Ego Integrity vs. Despair (65-death)

You can see from the bold print that Erickson associated certain personality characteristics with
successful passage through these crises. He called these characteristics values. The infant who can
trust, develops hope; the young adult who can be intimate, develops the capacity to love. In this sense,
Erickson created a mechanism by which different individuals can be developmentally assessed. The
adult who feels ashamed is automatically thrown back to the age where she first experienced shame; as
shame occurs at around age 2 to 4, Erickson would argue that the ashamed adult will more likely act like
a toddler. And, an adult behaving like a toddler gets into more trouble. This helps to provide a roadmap
for the clinician.

This way of looking at development has its critics. Many have argued that Erickson’s theories are
primarily Western, and as the world becomes more multi-cultural, one must be wary of the
generalizations that Erickson’s work might engender. Not all cultures, for example, view adolescence as
a time for identity formation.

Gil Noam, an internationally-known developmental psychologist at Harvard, has noted as well that
Erickson seemed to skip an important stage between the values of competence and fidelity. Noam
notes that young adolescents, or middle school kids, are less concerned with who they are as
individuals, and more with what group defines them—hence, the emphasis on popularity in middle
school. Noam calls this the “Psychology of Belonging,” and he has shown through numerous studies
that young teens can be helped most by being made to feel that they belong.

Jean Piaget is the next theorist we’ll discuss.

Piaget was more interested in how kids change the way they think about the world; that’s why he is
considered the father of cognitive development.

Piaget watched how kids figure things out. He noticed that when kids are teeny, they do lots of touching
and tasting. From this, he decided that very young kids learn about their new world by doing simple
experiments. What does that cat feel like? How does the side of the table taste? After that, he felt that
children moved onto a more binary view of the world. He noticed that school-aged kids rarely abstract;
in today’s world, for example, four fouls is an out every single time in first grade. He decided, therefore,
that young school-aged kids are focused primarily on a black-and -white view of the world.

But then he noticed that as that first grader moves through elementary school, her views of the world
change; at first, four fouls is an out every single time. By second grade, four fouls is an out because
those are the rules that are used to keep the game fun. By third grade, four fouls is an out, but that rule
doesn’t have to be; in fact, by third grade, lots of energy is used in discussing the possible variations in
the rules.

By sixth grade, kids start to eschew the rules altogether. To heck with the rules, they say—We make the
rules.

And just like that, Piaget noticed that with the onset of adolescence emerged the capacity to abstract.
Think of the shift, in just six years, from “the rules are the rules because they’re the rules,” to “we make
the rules.”

Piaget categorized the way kids make sense of the world like this:

Preoperational (ages 2-7) – Lots of gray matter, much less white matter
Concrete Operational (ages 7-11) – White matter starts to connect in linear patterns

Formal Operations (ages 11+) – Gray matter decreases as white matter flowers

Of course, Piaget couldn’t have made the notations you read above about the changes in gray and white
matter; you can read about those changes here. But, it turns out the Piaget’s theories correlate exactly
with the neurobiology that he didn’t yet have the tools to understand when he was writing in the early
part of the 20th century.

All of this helped to set the stage for Lawrence Kohlberg (he came after Erickson and Piaget, but actually
worked directly with Erickson). Kohlberg decided that if kids move along their development both
emotionally and cognitively, then they must also move forward morally.

If you think about it, this was pretty radical—do human beings pass through clearly-defined stages of
brain development that correlate with how they make moral decisions? This was Kohlberg’s question.

A review of all of Kohlberg’s work is beyond the scope of this post. We can summarize it, though, and
the best way to do that is to describe the story Kohlberg told all of the people he studied. The story is
fictional, but not outlandish; it sets up a clear moral dilemma, and Kohlberg paid attention to how
different people of different ages made sense of the story. He called this “The Heinz Story,” and
although there are many versions, the story roughly went like this:

A woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought
might save her: it was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The
drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging 10 times what the drug cost him to produce.
He paid $200 for the radium, and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman’s
husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but could only get together about
$1,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to either
sell it cheaper, or let him pay later. But, the druggist said: “No, I discovered the drug, and I’m going to
make money from it.” So, Heinz got desperate, and broke into the man’s store to steal the drug for his
wife. Should Heinz have broken into the laboratory to steal the drug for his wife? Why or why not?
Kohlberg, Lawrence (1981). Essays on Moral Development, Vol. I: The Philosophy of Moral
Development. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row

Kohlberg wasn’t as interested in what most people said they would do; after all, he soon discovered,
most people argued for stealing the medicine. Kohlberg was instead interested in why people thought
that it was OK to steal the medicine. From asking thousands of people of all ages what Heinz ought to
do, Kohlberg discerned what he felt were predictable stages of moral development. Not everyone, he
cautioned, would reach all of these stages despite their age, and it was perhaps this conclusion that
created the most controversy.

Generally speaking, Kohlberg felt that moral development was characterized first by a more or less
amoral stage: you want what you want regardless of right or wrong. In fact, little kids don’t even
understand the concept of right versus wrong. That’s why it doesn’t make sense to get angry at a 2-
year-old for cheating—they don’t, and can’t, understand the concept of cheating. However, after
around age 3, kids start to appreciate right and wrong, but they do so as a function of external
punishments. As kids age, Kohlberg noted, they move through different views of the concepts of right
and wrong. They might start with a fear of punishment, but then they move to a desire for approval.
Slowly, they make their way from external drivers of what to do to internal notions of what constitutes
the right thing to do.

Kohlberg called the final stages of moral development “post conventional.” By that he meant that
people at these stages were deciding what to do as a function of their own internal compasses, and not
as a function of how they ought to behave because of the conventions of their society.

You can see a listing of Kohlberg’s stages of moral development here.

Here’s why Erikson and Piaget and Kohlberg matter: clinicians consciously, and parents intuitively, use all
of these notions in understanding kids. Teens, for example, should be working on developing a sense of
who they are, and they do so by thinking abstractly about the many options afforded them. And, by
engaging in these processes, they decide that the right thing to do stems from their view of how the
world views them.
If kids veer from these loosely-predictable stages, we have to ask ourselves why. Is the child depressed?
Is there trouble at school? Is there trouble at home? This is where clinicians and parents collaborate
best when a child is in need.

Child Development Theories Sanjana mistry P B B.s.c N student

2.  Research has shown that early childhood may be the most important life stage for brain
development.  A baby’s 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.

3. 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

4.  Although researches don’t 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.

5. Psychoanalytic Theories:  Freud’s 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

6. Phallic Stage Child’s pleasure focuses on genitals Figure 2.1 Latency Stage Child represses sexual
interest and develops social and intellectual skills Anal Stage Child’s pleasure focuses on anus Genital
Stage A time of sexual reawakening; source of sexual pleasure becomes someone outside of the family
Oral Stage Infant’s pleasure centers on mouth Freudian Stages 6 yrs to puberty Birth to 1½ yrs 1½ to 3
yrs Puberty onward 3 to 6 years

7.  Erikson’s 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

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

9. Cognitive theories:  Piaget’s 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

10. Preoperational Stage: 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. Formal Operational Stage The adolescent reasons in more abstract idealistic and
logical ways. Sensorimotor Stage: The infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating
sensory experiences with physical actions: progressing from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the
beginning of symbolic thought toward end of the stage. Concrete Operational Stage: The child can now
reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets. Figure 2.3 11–15 years of
age through adulthood Birth to 2 years of age 2 to 7 years of age 7 to 11 years of age Piaget’s Four
Stages of Cognitive Development

11.  Vygotsky’s 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

12. Information is taken into brain Information gets processed, analyzed, and stored until use
OUTPUTINPUT Information is used as basis of behaviors and interactions Information-Processing Theory
math history religion geography science literature

13. EnvironmentPerson (cognitive) Behavior Bandura’s Social Cognitive Model Figure 2.4

14. Bandura’s Modeling/Imitation Child observes someone admired Child imitates behavior that seems
rewarded

15.  Urie Bronfenbrenner’s 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

16. Exosystem Mesosystems Macrosystem Family School & classroom Religion & groups Peer group
Chronosystem School system Political philosophy Nationalcustoms Economicpatterns Socialconditions
CulturalvaluesCommunity Massmedia Medicalinstitutions Figure 2.5 Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory
of Development

17. Other factors, such as genetic tendencies, poverty, and sociohistorical circumstances Children’s lack
of self-control Permissive parenting Children’s lack of self-control Permissive parenting Permissive
parenting Children’s lack of self-control and causes both cause causes Observed correlation: as
permissive parenting increases, children’s self-control decreases Figure 2.9 Possible Explanations for
Correlational Data

18. Group 2 Time playing video games: 6 hours each day More aggressive and antisocial More playful
and sociable Time playing video games: 2 hours each day Group 1

19.  Heredity  Blood type, eye color, and hair color  Environment  Children also learn attitudes and
beliefs from their environments

Child and adolescent

1. CHILD AND ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT Germa T. Borres, Ph.D. Prepared by: JERSON A.DOGOS

2. Which factor contributes development to the child?

3. Which factor contributes my personal development?

4. The development Pattern Nature versus nurture The basic mechanisms or causes of developmental
change are genetic factors and environmental factors.

5. Genetic factors are responsible for cellular changes like overall growth, changes in proportion of
body and brain parts,[25] and the maturation of aspects of function such as vision and dietary needs.
Environmental factors affecting development may include both diet and disease exposure, as well as
social, emotional, and cognitive experiences. The development Pattern

6. Combination of factors Result 1. Excellenr biological inheritance and rich environment Superior
achievement 2. Excellent biological inheritance and meager environment Good or poor achievement 3.
Poor biological inheritance and rich environment Poor or Good achievement 4. Poor biological
inheritance and meager environment Poor achievement The development Pattern

7. Nature and Nurture • There is a continous controversy over whether the child’s development is the
product of her heredity (nature) or environment (nurture). • Nature is responsible for cognitive aspects
such as mental capacities, endowments, innate traits and other materials that contributed to
development as passed upon generations through heredity. The inherent traits that an individuals
possesses are unfolded through maturation. • Nurture is associated with environment that provides the
stimuli for nourishment and proper development of certain organism. Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G.
VALES

8. Nature and Nurture • Heredity which is biological transmission of traits and characteristics from one.
• Maturation is the development or unfolding of traits potentially present in the individual considering
his/her heredity endowment. • Learning is the result of activities or day-to-day experiences of the child.
Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

9. Potential of Development The principles of hereditary factors are as follows: The bases of hereditary
are germ cells, not somatic or body cells. Potentialities are handed down from parents to offprings.
Human beings tend to be more alike rather than different.
10. Human beings tend to look alike but do not resemble each other in physical structure There is a
tendency toward arriving at a mean or average. Processess of hereditary are slow; the force of
environment is continuos. Potential of Development

11. Nature of Human Growth Prenatal development has three stages: Germonal, or egglike
organism(after 2 weeks of conception) Embryonics (after 8 weeks) Fetal (8 weeks –birth)

12. Congential influence refers to conditions and factors which can affect the unburn child as well as its
development, such as malnutrition, disease, infection, birth, injury, emotional sock, and toxin. These
factors explain why some children are born either prematurely and handicapped or abnormal.

13. Five post-natal periods of life: Infant (4weeks -1yr old) Childhood (1yr old- 13 yr old) Adolescence
(13 yr old-19 yr old) Adulthood senescence

14. Basic principle of development-Witherington Learning depends upon maturation Rate of growth is
rapid in the early years. Each individual has his own rate of growth.  members of the same species
follow a common general pattern of development. Mental traits appear together rather than in series

15. KEY PRINCIPLES OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT 1. Development is lifelong – each period of

development is influenced by what happened before and will affect what is to come. Each period has its
own unique characteristics and value. 2. Development depends on history and context – each person
development is within a specific set of circumstances or conditions defined by place and time. 3.
Development is multi-dimensional and multi-directional – development throughout involves a balance
of growth and decline, cephacaudal direction and proximodistal direction. Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G.
VALES

16. KEY PRINCIPLES OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT 4. Development is pliable and plastic – plasticity
means modifiability of performance, many abilities, such as memory strength and endurance can be
significantly improved with training and practice, even in later life. However, the potential for changes
has limits. 5. Early foundations are critical – the foundations laid during the first two years of life are
critical (between 8 to 18 months); early patterns so persist, but they are not unchangeable, change is
likely to occur when an individual a. Receives help and guidance in making the change b. Significant
poeple treat the individual in new and different ways c. There is a strong motivation on the part of the
individual. Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

17. KEY PRINCIPLES OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT 6. The role of maturation and learning in development
7. All individuals are different – all poeple are genetically and biologically different from one another
even identical twins. 8. Each phase of development has a characteristic pattern of behavior – when
individuals adaptasity to environmental demands (period of equilibrium) and if there are difficulties in
adaptation (periods of disequilibrium). 9. Each phase of development has hazards – it involves
adjustment, problems either physical, psychological and environmental. Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G.
VALES
18. KEY PRINCIPLES OF LIFE-SPAN DEVELOPMENT 10.Development is aided by stimulation from
significant others; most development will occur as a result of maturation and environmental
experiences, stimulating by directly by encouraging the individual to use an ability which is in the
process of developing. 11.There is social expectation for every stage of development or developmental
tasks. 12.There are traditional beliefs about poeple olf all ages. Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

19. HAVIGHURT’S DEVELOPMENT TASKS DURING THE LIFESPAN (As society’s expectations) Babyhood
and Early Childhood • Learning to take solid food • Learning to walk • Learning to talk • Learning to
control the elimination of body wastes • Learning sex differences and sexual modesty • Learning to
distinguish right from wrong and beginning to develop a conscience • Getting ready to read Prepared by:
JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

20. HAVIGHURT’S DEVELOPMENT TASKS DURING THE LIFESPAN (As society’s expectations) Late
Childhood • Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games • Building a wholesome attitude
towards oneself as a growing organism • Learning to get along with age mates • Beginning to decelop
approriate masculine or feminine social roles • Developing a conscience, a sense of morality and a scale
of values • Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing, and calculating • Developing attitudes
toward social groups and institutions • Achieving personal independence Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G.
VALES

21. HAVIGHURT’S DEVELOPMENT TASKS DURING THE LIFESPAN (As society’s expectations) Adolescense
• Achieving new and more mature relations with age-mates of both sexes • Achieving a masculine or
feminin social role • Accepting one’s physique and using one’s body effectively • Desiring, accepting,
and achieving socially responsible behavior • Achieving emotional independence from parents and other
adults • Preparing for an economic career • Preparing for marriage and family life • Acquiring a set of
values and an ethical system as guide to behavior Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

22. HAVIGHURT’S DEVELOPMENT TASKS DURING THE LIFESPAN (As society’s expectations) Early
Adulthood • Getting started in an occupation • Selecting a mate • Learning to live with a marriage
partner • Starting a family • Rearing children • Managing a home • Taking on civic responsibility •
Finding a congenial social group Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

23. HAVIGHURT’S DEVELOPMENT TASKS DURING THE LIFESPAN (As society’s expectations) Middle Age •
Achieving adult civic and social responsibility • Assisting teenage children to become responsible and
happy adults • Developing adult leisure-time activities • Relating oneself to one’s spouse as a person •
Accepting and adjusting to the physiological changes of middle age • Adjusting to aging parents
Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

24. Child and adolescent development • Child and adolescent psychology are braches of developmental
psychology devoted to the growtth and changes happening from conception through the beginning of
adulthood. Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

25. Major Child Development Theories and Theorists • Though manyh sciecntist and researchers have
approached the study of child development over the last hundred or so years, only a few of the theories
that have resulted have stood the teat of time and have proven to be widely influential. Among this core
group of theories are five that will serve as the basis for the documents in this series. Prepared by:
JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

26. Frued’s Psychosexual Theory Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was a Viennese doctor who came to
believe that the way parents dealt with children’s basic sexual and aggressive desires would determine
how their personalities developed and whether or not they would end up well-adjusted as adults. Stages
of Sexual Development Each stage focused on sexual activity and the ppleasure recieved from a
particular area of the body. ORAL PHASE, children are focused on the pleasures that they receive from
sucking and biting with their mouth. Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

27. ANAL PHASE, this focus shifts to the anus as they begin toilet training and attempt to control their
bowels. PHALLIC STAGE, the focus moves to genital stimulation and the sexual identification that comes
with having or not a penis. During this phase, Frued thought that children turn their interest and love
toward parent of the opposite sex and begin to strongly resent the aprent of the same sex. He called this
idea the Oedipus Complex as it closely mirrored the events of an ancient Greek tragic play in which a
king named Oedipus manages to marry his mother and kill his father. The Phallic/Oedipus stage was
thought to be followed by a period of Latency during which sexual and interest were temporarily
nonexistent. Frued’s Psychosexual Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

28. Anotherpart of Freud’s theory focused on identifying the parts of consciousness. Freud though that
all babies are initially dominated by unconscious, instinctual and selfish urges for immediate gratification
which he labeled the Id. As babies attempt and fail to get all their whims met, they develop a more
realistic appreciation of what is realistic and possible, which Freud called the “Ego”. Over time, babies
al;so learn about and come to internalize and represent their parents’ values and rules. These
internalized rules, which he called the “Super-Ego”, are the basis for the developing chils’s conscience
that struggles with the concepts of right and wrong and works with the Ego to control the immediate
gratification urges of the Id. Frued’s Psychosexual Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

29. Erik Erikson (1902-1994) used Frued’s work as starting place to develop atheory about human stage
development from birth to death. In contrast to Freud’s focus on sexuality, Erikson focused on how
peoples’ sense of identity develops; how poeple or fail to develop abilities about themselves which
allow them to become productive, satisfied members of society. Each stage is associated with a time of
life and a general age span. For each stage, Erikson’s theory explains types of stimulation children need
to master that stage and become productive and well- adjusted members of society and explains the
types of problems and developmental delays that can result when this stimulation does not occur.
Erickson’s Psychosocial Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

30. • Trust versus mistrust; • Autonomy versus shame and doubt; • Initiative versus guilt; • Industry
versus inferiority; • Identity versus confusion • Intimacy verusus isolation; • Generativity versus
stagnation; • Integrity versus despair. Stages of Psychosocial Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G.
VALES
31. Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987) descrbed three of moreal development which described the process
through which porplr learn to discriminate right from wrong and to develop increasingly sophisticated
appreciations of morality. Kohlberg’s first ‘preconventional’ level describes children whose
understanding of morality is essentially only driven by consequences. Essntially, “might makes right” to a
preconventional mind, and they worry about what is right in worng so they don’t get in trouble.
Kohlberg’s Moral Understanding Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

32. Second stage ‘conventional’ morality describes poeple who act in moral ways because they believe
that followuing the rules is the best way to promote good personal relationships and a healthy
community. The final “post conventional’ level describes poeple whose of morality transcend what the
rules or laws say.instead of just following rules without questioning them, ‘postconventional’ stage
poeple determine what is moral based on a set of values or beliefs they think are right all the time.
Kohlberg’s Moral Understanding Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

33. Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1990), created a cognitive- development stage theory that
described how children’s ways of thinking developed as they interacted with the world around them.
Infants and young children understand the world much differently than adults do, and as they explore,
their mind learns how to think in ways that better fit with reality. Piget’s theory has four stages:
sensorimotor, prooperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. During the sesorimotor
stage, which often last from birth to age two, children are just beginning to learn how to learn. Piaget-
Cognitive-Developmental Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

34. During the preoperational stage, which often lasts from ages two thought seven, children start to
use mental symbols to understand and to interact with the world, and they begin to learn language and
to engage in pretend play. In the concrete operational stage that follows, lasting from ages seven
through eleven, children gain the ability to think logically to solve problems and to organize information
they learn. However, they remain limited to considering only concrete, not abstract, information
because at this stage the capability for abstract thought isn’t well developed yet. Piaget-Cognitive-
Developmental Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

35. Finally, during the formal operational stage, which often lasts from age eleven on, adolescents learn
how to think more abstractly to solve and to think symbolically, e.g., about things that aren’t really there
concretely in front of them. As is the case with Erikcon and Kohlberg, Piaget’s ideas will be developed in
greater depth in future documents. Piaget-Cognitive-Developmental Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN
G. VALES

36. Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) developed the ecologicaln systems theory to explain how
everything in a child and the child’s environment affects how a child grows and develops. He labeled
different aspects or levels of the wnvironment that influence children’s development, including the
microsystems, the microsystem is the small, immediate environment the child lives in. Children’s
microsystems will include any immediate relationships or organizations they interacts wit, such as their
immediate family or caregivers and their school or daycare. Bronfenbrenner-Ecological Systems Theory
Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES
37. Mesosystem, describes how the different parts of a child’s microsystem work together for the sake
of the child. For example, if a child’s caregivers take an active role in a child’s school, suchn as going to
parent-teacher conferences and watching their child’s soccer games, this will help ensure the child’s
overall growth. In contrast, if the child’s two sets of caretaker, mom with step-dad and dad with step-
mom, disagree how to best raise the child and give the child conflicting lessons when they see him, this
will hinder the child’s growth in different channels. Bronfenbrenner-Ecological Systems Theory Prepared
by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

38. Exosystem, level includes the other poeple and places that the child herself may not interact with
often herself but thatb still have a large affect on her, such as parents’ workplaces, extended family
members, the neighberhood, etc. For example, if a child’s parent gets laid off from work, that may have
negative affects on the child if her parents are unable to pay rent or to buy groceries; however,if her
parent receives a promotion and a raise at work, this may have a positive affect on the child because her
parents will be btter able to give her her physical needs. Bronfenbrenner-Ecological Systems Theory
Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

39. Macrosystem, which is the largest and most remote set of poeple and things to a child but which still
has a great influence over the child. The macrosystem includes things such as the relative freedoms
permitted by the national government, cultural values, the economy, wars, etc. These things can also
affect a child either positively or negatively. Bronfenbrenner-Ecological Systems Theory Prepared by:
JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

40. Four stages of cognitive-development • Sensorimotor stage- birth 2 yrs. Infants think by acting on
the world with their eyes, eas, and hands. As a result the invent ways of solving sensorimotor problems
such as finding hiddent toys. • Preoperational stage- 2-7 yrs. Preschool children use symbols to
represent thier earlier sensorimotor discoveries. Development of language and make-believe play takes
place. • Concrete operational stage- 7-11 yrs. Children’s reasoning becomes logical. School-age children
understand that a certain amount of a substance remains the same even after it’s appearance changes
(ex. Liquid in two different sized containers). Thinking is not yet abstract in this stage. • Formal
operational stage- 11 years on. The capacity for abstraction permits adolescents to reason with symbols
that do not refer to objects in the real world, as in advanced mathematics. Piaget-Cognitive-
Developmental Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

41. Ecological systems theory views the person as developing within a complex system of relationships
affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment. • Microsystem- innermost level of the
environment. Refers to activities and interaction patterns in the person’s immediate surroundings. •
Mesosystem- refers to connections between Microsystems that foster development. • Exosystem- social
settings that do not contain the developing person but nevertheless affect experiences in immediate
settings. • Macrosystem- consist of the values, laws, customs, and resources of a particular culture. In
this system, the priority that the macrosystem gives to the needs of children and adults affects the
support they receive at the inner levels of the environment. • Chronosystem- the environment is
dynamic and ever-changing. The temporal dimension of Bronfenbrenner’s model. Bronfenbrenner-
Ecological Systems Theory Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES
42. • Sociocultural theory focuses on how culture is transmitted to the next generation. Culture – the
values, beliefs, customs, and skills of a social group. Social interaction – cooperative dialogues with more
knowledgeable members of society, according to Vygotsky, is necessary for children to acquire the ways
of thinking and behaving that make up comnunites culture. Vygotsky emphasize the role of direct
teaching. Private Speech – the inner dialoge that children use when encountering difficult tasks. Zone of
proximal development – the range of tasks too difficult for the child to do alone but can be done with
the help of others. Children then take the language of these dialogues, make it their own private speech,
and use this to organize their own independent efforts. Vygotsky-Sociocultural Theory Prepared by:
JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES

43. Developmental tasks-skills, knowledge, functions, and attitudes that individuals have to acquire at
certain points in their lives through physical maturation, social expectations, and personal effort.
Havighurst’s * major tasks: 1. Accepting one’s physique and using the body effectively. 2. Achieving new
and more mature relations with age mates of both sexes. 3. Achieving a masculine or feminine role. 4.
Achieving emotinal independence from parents and other adults. 5. Preparing for an economic career. 6.
Preparing for marriage and family life. 7. Desiring and achieving socially responsible behavior 8.
Acquiring a set of values and ethical system as a guide to behavior-developing ideology. Havighurst-
Developmental Tasks and Education Prepared by: JOSEPH ALVIN G. VALES