Chapter 1: Exploring Child Development

1. Chapter 1: Exploring Child Development Theories about Child Development By Kati Tumaneng (for Drs. Cook & Cook)

2. Theories about Child Development • What is a Theory? • A theory is an explanation of how facts fit together, allowing us to understand and predict behavior. • Why are Theories Useful? • Summarize the facts as currently known • Allow prediction of future behavior and events • Provide guidance • Stimulate new research and discoveries • Act as filters for identifying relevant info, observations, and relationships

3. Theories • Psychoanalytic • Behavioral & Social Learning • Cognitive • Biological • Systems

4. Psychoanalytic Theories • Theories that focus on the structure of personality and on how the conscious and unconscious portions of the self influence behavior and development. • Prominent Theorists • Sigmund Freud • Erik Erikson

5. Sigmund Freud http://www.freudfile.org/

6. Psychoanalytic Theories:Freud • Freud (1856-1939) focused on structure of personality; how conscious and unconscious shaped development • 3 levels of conscious awareness • Id – primitive sexual and aggressive instincts • Ego – rational branch of personalities • Superego – moral branch of personalities

7. Psychoanalytic Theories:Freud • 5 Stages of Psychosexual development • Oral (age 0-2) • Anal (age 2-3) • Phallic (age 3-7) • Latency (age 7-11) • Genital (age 11-adulthood)

8. Erik Erikson http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/erikson.html

9. Psychoanalytic Theories:Erikson • Erickson (1902-1994) focused on ego and healthy child development • Psychosocial stages of development • Trust v. Mistrust (age 0-1) • Autonomy v. Shame and Doubt (age 2-3) • Initiative v Guilt (age 4-5) • Industry v. Inferiority (age 6-12) • Identity v. Role Confusion (adolescence) • Intimacy v. Isolation (early adulthood) • Generativity v. Stagnation (middle adulthood) • Integrity v. Despair (later adulthood)

10. John B. Watson http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/watson.htm

11. Behavioral Learning Theories • Behaviorism – An American movement to develop a psychology that was objective and scientific focusing on the principles of classical conditioning and operant conditioning. • Watson (1878-1958) – Father of American Behaviorism; focus on observable conditions in environment and how they are related to overt behaviors

12. Ivan Pavlov http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1904/pavlov-bio.html

14. Behavioral Learning Theories • Classical conditioning – Process where neutral stimuli are paired with unconditioned stimuli until they come to evoke conditioned responses. • Pavlov’s dog • Watsonapplied classical conditioning workof Pavlov to children • Little Albert http://dushkin.com/connectext/psy/ch06/watson.mhtml

15. B. F. Skinner http://www.bfskinner.org/bio.asp

16. Behavioral Learning Theories • Operant Conditioning – Process where reinforcing or punishing consequences of actions affect behaviors. • Skinner stressed importance of consequences of behavior for learning and development. • E.g., praise for cleaning room or grounding for missing curfew.

17. Albert Bandura http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/bandurabio.html

18. Social Learning Theories • Social Learning – Process where children learn by observing and imitating the behaviors of other people. • Bandura studied how children learn by observing and imitating others. • E.g., girl learns to smile at visitors after watching her father smile at visitors

19. Jean Piaget http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/piaget.html

20. Cognitive Theories:Piaget • Piaget (1896-1980) created the Cognitive Development Theory which focused on how children actively adjust their own understandings as they learn about the world. • Schemes – mental representations • E.g., how to grasp a ball

21. Cognitive Theories:Piaget • Assimilation – the process of bringing new objects or information into a scheme that already exists. If the assimilation is not successful, the scheme needs to be accommodated. E.g., infant drops the ball. • Accommodation – the process of adjusting or adapting a scheme so it fits the new experience. E.g., infant learns to hold ball with 2 hands.

22. Cognitive Theorists:Piaget • Four Stages of Development • Sensorimotor • Preoperational • Concrete operational • Formal operational • Current information processing approach to studying cognition built on Piaget’s foundation • A theoretical approach focusing on how children perceive, store, and retrieve information, and on the strategies they use to solve problems.

23. Lev Vygotsky http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/index.htm

24. Cognitive Theorists:Vygotsky • Vygotsky (1896-1934) created the Sociocultural Theory which emphasized importance of language and culture in shaping cognition. • Internalization of speech aids self-control • Social speech • Private speech • Inner speech

25. Cognitive Theorists • Information Processing Theory – A Theoretical approach focusing on how children perceive, store, and retrieve information, and on the strategies they use to solve problems. • Emphasize roles of: • Basic processing efficiency • Changes in the knowledge base

26. Biological Theories • Ethology – Area of study focusing on the adaptive significance or survival value of behaviors. • Strong influence from Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and natural selection concept. • Behavior Genetics • Neuropsychology – An area of study that focuses on the study of the brain and nervous system; researchers often observe brain functions using technology such as CT scans, PET, and fMRI.

27. Biological Theories

28. Urie Bronfenbrenner http://www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/KeyTheorists/Bronfenbrenner.htm

29. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory • Focuses on the complex set of systems and interacting social layers that can affect a child’s development. • Microsystem – interactions with people in immediate environment • Mesosystem – larger social environment • Exosystem – even larger social settings and networks • Macrosystem – values, customs, laws and resources of culture at large • Chronosystem – how the effects of the systems, and the interrelationships among them, change over time

30. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory

31. Dynamic Systems Theory • Theories that use models from mathematics and physics to understand complex systems of development. • Focus on how layers of systems interact with one another and change over time.

32. Baby on Slide 1: from http://www.learnonyourown.com/imagesnew/i_photo.jpg, retrieved December 8, 2005 • Freud on Slide 5: from http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/freud/images/vc008103.jpg, retrieved December 6, 2005 • Baby on Slide 7: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 10). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. • Erikson on Slide 8: from http://www.austenriggs.org/research.html, retrieved December 6, 2005 • Watson on Slide 10: from http://rcswww.urz.tu-dresden.de/~dornhoef/pioneers3.htm, retrieved December 6, 2005 • Pavlov on Slide 12: from http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1904/pavlov-bio.html, retrieved December 6, 2005 • Cartoon on Slide 13: from http://evolution.massey.ac.nz/assign2/KR/ClassCond.jpg, retrieved December 8, 2005 • Skinner on Slide 15: from http://www.cedu.niu.edu/tutortechlab/history/Skinnerbio.html, retrieved December 6, 2005

33. Bandura on Slide 17: from http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/bandurabio.html, retrieved December 6, 2005 • Piaget on Slide 19: from http://www.facade.com/celebrity/Jean_Piaget/, retrieved December 6, 2005 • Baby on Slide 21: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 14). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. • Vygotski on Slide 23: from http://www.marxists.org/archive/vygotsky/index.htm, retrieved December 6, 2005 • Scan on Slide 27: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 16). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. • Bronfenbrenner on Slide 28: from http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/ub11/, retrieved December 6, 2005 • System on Slide 30: from Cook, J. L., & Cook, G. (2005). Child development: Principles and perspectives (1st ed.) (p. 18). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. • All other images retrieved from Microsoft PowerPoint Clip Art.