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The Developing Person Through the Life Span. Theories of Development. What Theories Do. Developmental Theory is a systematic statement of principles and generalizations that provides a framework for understanding how and why people change as they grow older.
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The Developing Person Through the Life Span Theories of Development
What Theories Do Developmental Theory isa systematic statement of principles and generalizations that provides a framework for understanding how and why people change as they grow older. Developmental stage theories are theories that divide child development into distinct stages which are characterized by qualitative differences in behavior. There are a number of different views about the way in which psychological and physical development proceed throughout the life span.
What Theories Do • Theories are not facts, but they allow us to question norms. (from the text 9th ed.) • The descriptive definition of norms is what people in general do. The prescriptive definition is what people should do and the proscriptive definition is what people should not do.
Grand Theories Includes Psychoanalytic, Behavioral, and Cognitive theories. All three of these are comprehensive, enduring, and widely applied.
Psychoanalytic Theory • A theory of human development that holds that irrational, unconscious drives and motives, often originating in childhood, underlie human behavior. • Psychoanalytic theory originated with Sigmund Freud (1856– 1939)
Psychoanalytic Theory Erickson’s Ideas • Erik Erikson (1902–1994) • Described eight developmental stages, each characterized by a challenging developmental crisis. • His first five stages build on Freud’s theory; but he also described three adult stages.
Behaviorism • Behaviorism is a systematic approach to the understanding of human and animal behavior. It assumes that the behavior of a human or an animal is a consequence of that individual's history, including especially reinforcement and punishment, together with the individual's current motivational state and controlling stimuli. • There are three main types of learning: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational(Social Learning Theory) learning. Both classical and operant conditioning are forms of associative learning, in which associations are made between events that occur together.
Behaviorism A theory of human development that studies observable behavior. • Also called learning theory as it describes the laws and processes by which behavior is learned. • Conditioning -the processes by which responses become linked to particular stimuli and learning takes place.
Behaviorism Classical conditioning - Ivan Pavlov(1849-1936) • (also called respondent conditioning), a process in which a person or animal learns to associate a neutral stimulus with a meaningful stimulus, gradually reacting to the neutral stimulus with the same response as to the meaningful one.
Behaviorism Operant conditioning - B.F. Skinner(1904–1990) • (also called instrumental conditioning) a learning process in which a particular action is followed either by something desired or by something unwanted.
Operant Conditioning Reinforcement • Increasing the probability of a response • A technique for conditioning behavior Examples: - Food for a hungry animal - A pat on the back for a job well done - An A for a well written paper
Behaviorism Social LearningTheory-Albert Bandura (b. 1925) • An extension of behaviorism that emphasizes the influence that other people have over a person’s behavior. • Modeling- people learn by observing other people and then copying them. • Self-efficacy- how effective people think they are when it comes to changing themselves or altering their social context.
Cognitive Theory • Cognitivetheory is an approach to psychology that attempts to explain human behavior by understanding your thought processes. For example, a therapist is using principles of cognitivetheory when she teaches you to how to identify your maladaptive thought patterns and transform them into constructive ones. • Thoughts and expectations profoundly affect action. • Focuses on changes in how people think over time. • Jean Piaget (1896–1980)
Cognitive Theory Cognitive Equilibrium • A state of mental balance, no confusion • Interpret new ideas through past ideas • Needed for intellectual advancement • Easy equilibrium not always possible • If new experience is not understandable, cognitive disequilibrium can occur
Cognitive Theory Two types of cognitive adaptation: • Assimilation - new experiences are interpreted to fit into, or assimilate with, old ideas • Accommodation - old ideas are restructured to include, or accommodate, new experiences • Cognitive Disequilibrium Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development describes cognitive disequilibrium as a state of cognitive imbalance. We experience such a state of imbalance when encountering information that requires us to develop new schema or modify existing schema (i.e., accommodate).
Cognitive Theory Information Processing (a newer version) • Not a single theory but a framework • Inspired by how a computer works • How people think before they respond • How attention and thought affects mental function • Relationship between one person’s thinking and another’s
Newer Theories Sociocultural Theory • Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) • Development results from a person’s interaction with their social and cultural surroundings • Culture is integral to development • Apprenticeship in thinking: how cognition is “taught” by the older and more skilled
Sociocultural Theory Zone of proximal development (Vygotsky) • Made up of the skills, knowledge, and concepts that the learner is close to acquiring • Learner needs help to master • Learning must be individualized
Universal Perspective Humanism • Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), Carl Rogers (1902-1987) • Stresses the potential of humans for good • All people have the same needs • Emphasize what people have in common
Universal Perspective Evolutionary Theory • Based on Darwin’s ideas • Very controversial in psychological circles • Humans are more alike than different • Human development influenced by drives to survive and reproduce • Selective adaptation: process by which people adapt to their environment
What Theories Contribute Eclectic perspective • The approach taken by most developmentalists • An Eclectic Perspective in psychotherapy is one that combines aspects of two or more different approaches to meet the needs of a client. For example, an eclectic therapist might use techniques from psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and dialectal behavioral therapy, depending on what works best for a particular client.
