Outline for Chapter 2

Chapter 2
Theories of Development

Psychoanalytic Theories: proposing that developmental change happens because of the influence of internal drives and emotions on behavior.

I Freud’s Psychosexual theory
A. libido: an instinctual drive for physical pleasure present at birth and forming the motivating force behind virtually all human behavior.
B. id: the part of the personality that comprises a person’s basic sexual and aggressive impulses; it contains the libido and motivates a person to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
C. ego: the thinking part of personality
D. superego: the part of the personality that is the moral judge
E. defense mechanisms: strategies for reducing anxiety
1. Denial: behaving as if a problem did not exist
2. Repression: pushing the memory of something unpleasant into the unconscious.
3. Projection: seeing one’s own behavior or beliefs in others, whether they are actually present or not
4. Regression: behaving in a way that is inappropriate for one’s age
5. Displacement: directing emotion to an object other than the one that provoked it.
6. Rationalization: creating an explanation to justify an action or to deal with a disappointment.
F. psychosexual stages: Freud’s 5 stages of personality development through which children move in a fixed sequence determined by maturation; the libido is centered in a different body part in each stage.
1. Oral: birth – 1. Mouth, lips, tongue. Weaning.
2. Anal: 1-3. Toilet training. Orderliness, obstinacy or messiness, disorganization
3. Phallic: 3-6. Genitals. Resolving Oedipus/Electra complex. Vanity, recklessness, sexual dysfunction or deviancy
4. Latency: 6-12. Developing defense mechanisms, identifying with same-sex peers.
5. Genital: 12 +. Achieving mature sexual intimacy.
II Erikson’s psychosocial theory
A. neo-Freudian
B. psychosocial stages: 8 stages/crisis of personality development in which inner instincts interact with outer cultural and social demands to shape personality.
C. see handout
III Evaluation of psychoanalytic theories




Learning Theories: theories that assert that development results from an accumulation of experiences.

I John Watson
A. behaviorism: the view that defines development in terms of behavior changes caused by environmental influences.
II Pavlov
A. classical conditioning: learning that results from the association of stimuli
III Skinner:
A. operant conditioning: learning to repeat or stop behaviors because of their consequences.
1. reinforcement: anything that follows a behavior and causes it to be repeated.
2. Punishment: anything that follows a behavior and causes it to stop.
3. Extinction: the gradual elimination of a behavior through repeated non-reinforcement.
4. Shaping: the reinforcement of intermediate steps until an individual learns a complex behavior.
IV Bandura
A. social-learning theory:
1. Observational learning (modeling): learning that results from seeing a model reinforced or punished for a behavior.
V Evaluation of learning theories

Cognitive Theories: theories that emphasize mental processes in development, such as logic and memory.

I Piaget
A. cognitive-developmental theory:
1. scheme: an internal cognitive structure that provides an individual with a procedure to use in a specific circumstance.
2. assimilation: the process of using a scheme to make sense of an event or experience.
3. accommodation: changing a scheme as a result of some new information.
4. equilibration: the process of balancing assimilation and accommodation to create schemes that fit the environment.
B. 4 stages
1. sensorimotor stage: b-18 mos. Senses (mouth) to explore
2. preoperational stage: 18 mos-6.
3. concrete operational stage: 6-12. think logically, become capable of solving problems.
4. formal operational: 12-?. Think logically about abstract ideas and hypothetical situations.

II Information processing theory: a theoretical perspective that uses the computer as a model to explain how the mind manages information. Aka: neo-Piagetian theories.
A. sensory memory
B. Short term memory
C. long term memory.
III Evaluation of cognitive theories

Current Trends

I Biological theories
A. nativism: the view that human beings possess unique genetic traits that will be manifested in all members of the species, regardless of differences in environments.
B. ethology: a perspective on development that emphasizes genetically determined survival behaviors presumed to have evolved through natural selection.
C. sociobiology: the study of society using the methods and concepts of biology; when used by developmentalists, an approach that emphasizes genes that aid group survival. (humans live better in groups)
D. Behavior genetics: the study of the role of heredity in individual differences.
II Vygotsky
A. sociocultural theory: complex forms of thinking have their origins in social interactions rather than in an individual’s private explorations.
III Bronfenbrenner
A. ecological theory: explains development in terms of relationships between individuals and their environments, or interconnected contexts.
IV Eclecticism: the use of multiple theoretical perspectives to explain and study human development.

Comparing Theories

I Assumptions about development
II Usefulness