THE CHILD AND

ADOLESCENT LEARNER
AND LEARNING
PRINCIPLES
EDUC 30013
Causes of
Development
Causes of Development

Maturation Learning
Maturation

Is the development or unfolding of traits potentially

present in the individual from his hereditary
endowment.

The net sum of the gene effects operating in a self-

limited life cycle.

Changes in physical characteristics but also in

function, capacity to perform or behave which are
possible through changes in any part of the organism
 Learning
The result of the activities of the
child himself
Rates of
Development

 Rapid – prenatal throughout

babyhood (first two weeks, no
physical development known as
plateau stage) up to six years
 Slow – six years to adolescence
 Accelerated – adolescence
 Factors Influencing
Development

Glands of
Intelligence Sex internal Nutrition
secretion

Injuries and
Environment Race Culture
diseases

Family
 Child
Development
Theories
 Why is Childhood
Crucial?
1. Research has shown that early childhood
may be the most important life stage for
brain development.
2. A baby’s brain is about one quarter the
size of an adults’.
3. Scientists have found that babies’ brains
develop in response to stimulation.
Arouses senses such as sight, sound,
touch, taste, and smell.
4. 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
Activity 1

 Describe what you were before and who will you

possibly be unto adulthood.
Child Development Theorists
 Although researches don’t always agree, scientific
researchers have agreed upon the five following
general rules.
 Development is orderly. (proximodistal pattern,
cephalo-caudal pattern)
 Development is likely to be similar, the outcomes
and rate are likely to vary.
 Development takes place gradually.
 Development is complex. (biological, cognitive,
socioemotional processes)
Approaches to Human
Development
 Traditional
 Life-Span Approach
Traditional

 Extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no

change in adulthood and decline in late old age
Life-Span Approach

 Developmental changes takes place even in adulthood

as it does during childhood
 Development is lifelong.
 Development is multidimentional.
 Development is possible throughout life-span.
 Development is contextual.
 Development involves growth, maintenance and regulation
MAJOR THEORIES
AND ISSUES
 Freud: Psychoanalytic Theory
 Erikson: Eight Stages of the Life Cycle
 Piaget: Universal Constructivist Perspective
 Vygotsky: Culture and Development
 Brofenbrenner: Ecology of Human
Development
 Maslow: Humanistic Perspective on
Development
 Who is Freud?

developed
completed school in
born in 1856, raised in psychoanalytic
1886, began practicing
Vienna Austria, son of techniques to
neurology, specializing
Jewish merchant encourage patients to
in hysteria.
recall past experiences

indulged in cocaine to
relieve depression,
died in London in 1939 addiction to nicotine
caused his death from
cancer of the mouth
Structure of Personality

Id- seat of instinctual drives- sex, food, aggression;

operating on the pleasure principle; seeks immediate
gratification and wants to avoid physical and psychic
pain; self-serving drive for pleasure

Ego- works to keep the Id out of trouble, balances the

id's drives with society's expectations

Superego- the moral component of personality, emerging

around 3-5 years; represents an internalization of social
standards for good and bad behavior; individual's way of
policing his or her own behavior.
Structure of Personality

Superego

When the superego becomes too demanding,

the individual feels excessive guilt for failing
to meet moral perfection.

In the absence of superego, the individual

feels no remorse.
Levels of Awareness and Dreams

Conscious - consists of awareness of the present

Preconscious- lies just below the surface, housing material

that the individual knows but is not thinking about right
now

Unconscious- contains memories, thoughts, and desires of

which the individual is not aware but that may have a
profound influence on the person's behavior (the Id rests
entirely in the unconscious)
Conflicts and Defense Mechanisms

Defense mechanisms-
Conflict- created
protect the ego from
because of internal
unpleasant feelings,
battle between the Id,
especially anxiety and
Ego, and Superego
guilt.

- rationalization,
repression, projection,
UNCONSCIOUS and are
displacement, reaction
not the same as coping
formation, regression,
and identification
Conflicts and Defense
Mechanisms
 Rationalization- creating of false but plausible excuses to justify
behavior: “Everyone else does it.”
 Repression- way of keeping anxiety-producing thoughts in the
unconscious. “forgetting” a troubling experience
 Projection- attributing your thoughts and feelings, or motives to
somebody else
 Displacement- diverting feelings that you have toward someone away
from that person toward another person or object
 Reaction formation- behaving in a way that is exactly opposite the way
you feel it: Crusading against porn when you secretly enjoy it.
 Regression- reverting to immature behavior: adult temper tantrums
 Identification- aligning yourself with a person or group that you admire as
a way to form a positive self-identity: Joining sorority
 Stages of Psychosexual Development
1. Oral stage- (birth to 18 months) first year of life, main source of pleasure is the
mouth (erogenous zone), sucking and biting (adult oral fixations/personality:
oral receptive- stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, overeat; oral
aggressive – tendency to bite his or her nails, or use curse words or gossip)
2. Anal stage- (18 months to 3 years) toddler's pleasure in controlling bowel
movements. Toilet training represents society's first effort to control the child's
self-serving physical drives (adult fixations/personality: anal retentive-
obsession with cleanliness, perfection, control; anal expulsive- person may
become messy)
3. Phallic stage- (ages 3 to 6) occurs between third and fifth years of life. Boys
find pleasure in self stimulation and compete with their fathers for affection of
their mothers. Oedipus complex refers to sexual desires for the parent of the
opposite sex and hostility toward parent of the same sex. Electra complex-
similar experience with girls
4. Latency stage (from age 6 through puberty), sexual urges become supressed
as children form social relationships beyond the family, especially with peers.
5. Genital stage (puberty onwards) Sexual urges can be appropriately directed
toward peers of the opposite sex.
 Freudian Stages
Birth to 1½ to 3 3 to 6 6 yrs to Puberty
1½ yrs yrs years puberty onward
Oral Stage Anal Stage Phallic Latency Genital
Stage Stage Stage
Infant’s Child’s
pleasure pleasure Child’s Child A time of
centers on focuses on pleasure represses sexual
mouth anus focuses on sexual reawakening;
genitals interest source of
and develops sexual
social and pleasure
intellectual becomes
skills someone
outside of the
family
Psychoanalysis
• the goal is to bring into awareness
unconscious conflicts, motives, and defenses
so that they can be resolved.
Who is Erikson?
Erik Homburger Erikson, born in Germany in 1902 to
Danish parents

studied child analysis in Vienna Psychoanalytic

Institute, then immigrated to the United States in
1933
established Child Guidance Clinics for the treatment
of childhood psychological disturbances

introduced the theory of EIGHT STAGES OF THE

HUMAN LIFE CYCLE in 1950

He died in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1994

Theory of Psychosocial Development

Psychosocial development- is based on

the premise that humans interact with an
ever-widening circle of people beginning
with mother and ending with humankind
in general

Most of the stages of the human lifecycle

is marked by a normative developmental
crisis that is resolved on a continuum
between opposing positive and negative
outcomes.

Personality is formed as a result of the

resolution of these crises leaving people
with both strengths and weaknesses.
 Erikson’s Eight Life-Span Stages
Erikson’s 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 6
years)
Industry vs inferiority Middle and late childhood
Identity vs identity Adolescence (12 to 19 years)
confusion
Intimacy vs isolation Early adulthood (20s, 25)
Generativity vs Middle adulthood (26s, 64)
stagnation
Integrity vs despair Late adulthood (65-death)

Figure 2.2
 Theory of
Psychosocial
Development
• Developmental crisis:
• Trust versus mistrust
• Period:
• Infancy
• Developmental Struggle:
• I can trust others and thus myself versus I can't trust
and my needs are unworthy

• Note: consistently poor

caregiving leaves a child
with a sense of unworthiness
that can negatively influence
self-identity and relationships
throughout life.
Theory of Psychosocial
Development

Developmental • Autonomy versus shame and doubt

crisis:

Period: • Toddler

• I am, I can and that's good versus I can't and I am bad

Developmental • Note: The more they experience disapproval
without guidance, the deeper their shame and the
Struggle: more they doubt their own will
Theory of Psychosocial
Development

• Developmental crisis:
• Initiave versus guilt
• Period:
• Pre school
• Developmental Struggle:
• I can control my business versus what I do is bad

• Note: This stage is the birth of

conscience, children who are
overburdened by unrealistic
expectations for good behavior
can only fail; they may believe
they did bad things
•
Theory of Psychosocial Development
Developmental crisis:
• Industry versus inferiority
• Period:
• School-aged
• Developmental Struggle:
• I can make friends and do things well versus nobody
likes me and I'm stupid

• Note: Children who do not

experience themselves as being
competent socially, physically, or
intellectually develop a sense of
inadequacy and inferiority
• Theory of Psychosocial Development
Developmental crisis:
• Identity formation versus identity diffusion
• Period:
• Adolescence
• Developmental Struggle:
• I am in tune with myself versus I am confused, a nobody

• Note: Adolescents try on different

identities, values and social roles.
Failure to form an identity may result in
identity diffusion- or feeling like a
nobody, with no sense of direction or
commitment to a set of values. Erikson
coined the term “ identity crisis” in
reference to adolescence
Theory of Psychosocial
Development
• Developmental crisis:
• Intimacy versus isolation
• Period:
• Young Adult
• Developmental Struggle:
• I share who I am with special others versus I am alone and I have
nothing to share

• Note: Fear of losing one's identity

in a relationship can lead youth to
avoid commitments, causing
isolation and loneliness
Theory of Psychosocial
Development

Developmental • Generativity versus self-absorption

crisis:

Period: • Adulthood

• I am making a contribution versus it only matters if

Developmental it matters to me.
• Note: Self-absorbed adults do not look beyond their
Struggle: own needs, become stagnant emotionally, or lack a
core set of values.
 Developmental crisis:
• Ego integrity versus disgust and
despair
Period:
Theory of • Senescence

Psychosocial Developmental Struggle:

• This was my life and I am okay
Development with it versus I am filled with
regret, I failed.
• Note: Individuals who have been
emotionally isolated, self-
absorbed, and without a secure
identity end life in despair and
regret.