Theoretical Perspectives of

UNIT 1 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF Development

DEVELOPMENT

Structure
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Objectives
1.2 Meaning of Development
1.3 Continuous vs. Discontinuous Development
1.4 Domains of Development
1.5 Different Theoretical Perspectives
1.5.1 Cognitive Approach
1.5.2 Evolutionary
1.5.3 Learning
1.5.4 Endocrinology
1.5.5 Psychodynamic
1.5.6 Social-Cognitive
1.5.7 Socio-cultural
1.6 Let Us Sum Up
1.7 Unit End Questions
1.8 Suggested Readings

1.0 INTRODUCTION
You must have wondered how human beings develop from union of tiny sperm
cell and ovum into a complex human, able to perform myriads of work from as
simple a task as lifting a bucket to solving complex puzzles about origin of
universe. Answer lies in the process of development. In this unit we will study
the meaning of development and various issues relating to the process of
development. When did modern scientific study of human development start?
What are the various theoretical approaches to development? There are many
such questions which need answers and the present unit will try to answer most
of the queries and enhance your understanding of human being’s psychological
functioning. You will be able to understand how we come to acquire abilities
and skills that enable us to perform so many tasks separately and simultaneously.
It is also expected to provide answers to some of the questions that puzzle your
mind.

1.1 OBJECTIVES
After completing the study of this unit, you will be able to:
 Explain the meaning of the term development;
 Describe the issue of continuity and discontinuity in the process of
development;
 Enumerate the dimensions or domains of development;

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Biological Basis of  Analyse the need of studying theories of human development; and
Behaviour
 Identify various theoretical approaches to the study of human development.

1.2 MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT

According to Elizabeth, B. Hurlock (1975) the term development implies a
progressive series of changes that occur as a result of maturation and experience.
As Van den Daele has pointed out, “ development implies qualitative change”.
This means that development is just not adding inches to ones height or refining
one’s ability but it is a complex process which involves integration of many
structures and functions.

Development involves two paradoxical processes in it, that is growth or evolution,

and atrophy (decay) or involution. The two processes begin at the time of birth
and end at death. In the early phases of life, growth predominates, as for example,
the development of teeth, hair, increase in height etc., while atrophy or decay is
dominant in the later years of life when we lose our teeth, there is loss of hair and
sagging of muscles etc.

You must have noticed that when born, a baby is not able to survive without the
help of parents or significant others. Gradually as time passes the baby first
gains control of its head. Then come, gross movements of hands before being
able to clasp an object in its hand. This happens because before being able to
catch hold of an object the child must be able to lift its arm and move it in the
desired direction. Clasping an object into one’s hand requires use of finer muscles
of fingers and palm. This can happen only when the child is able to master gross
movements of hand. Thus development occurs in a series and involves integration
of many functions.

1.3 CONTINUOUS VS. DISCONTINUOUS

DEVELOPMENT
All of us know that infants, young children, adolescents and adults differ in their
capacities and behaviour. How do we explain this? Actually it is here that the
dichotomy of continuous and discontinuous development, arise. For example, a
four year old boy may be as logical and organised in his thinking as an adult. He
may be able to use simple rules of concept formation and categorisation of objects
but may lack precision when the complexity of dimensions of objects increases
or when the amount of information exceeds his limits of handling. Given this
fact and definition of development in the above paragraph, development is a
continuous process that consists of gradually adding more of the same type of
skills that were there to begin with.

However, on the other hand the child’s thinking, emotions and behaviour are
quite different from that of an adult, which suggests that development is a
discontinuous process marked by emergence of new ways of understanding and
responding to the world. These new ways occur at specific intervals of age.
Therefore, the child is not yet able to categorise objects or use complex rules of
concept formation. However, modern developmental psychologists recognise
that both continuous and discontinuous changes occur and that both are universal
and unique features and are part of the individual development
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 Theoretical Perspectives of
1.4 DOMAINS OF DEVELOPMENT Development

In the preceding paragraphs we tried to make you understand the meaning of

development and continuity and discontinuity of development. Now the question
arises what are the various aspects of development? To answer this, you must
know that the development takes place along three dimensions, viz., (i) Physical
development (ii) Cognitive development (iii) Emotional and social development.
Let us understand these a little more in detail.

Physical development: In this there are changes in body, changes in the functioning
of various parts of the body, and there is development of the brain etc..

Cognitive development changes in higher mental processes and their capacities,

e.g. memory, reasoning, concept formation, imagination and problem solving
etc.

Emotional and social development— expression and control of emotions, ability

to read others mood and emotions, ability to communicate with others in balanced
and socially acceptable ways, interpersonal relationship etc.

1.5 DIFFERENT THEORETICAL

PERSPECTIVES
All of us know that no two individuals behave in similar manner to one stimulus
e.g. one person on seeing a beautiful rose may have the feeling of presenting it to
girlfriend. Another person may wish to sale it and make money while still another
person may admire it’s beauty and fragrance. Now the question is how and why
people become the way they are i.e. how they come to acquire different
personalities and identities? A number of approaches were developed by
psychologists to explain this phenomenon, some of which as follow:

1.5.1 Cognitive Approach

Cognitive approach to development was postulated by Swiss psychologist Jean
Piaget (1896-1980). Piaget stated that children are not passive learners but they
actively explore and manipulate the world around them. Children try to construct
and make sense of the world around. Piaget thought that reinforcement alone is
not sufficient for children to acquire knowledge. He centralised his theory in
accordance with the biological concept of adaptation. Just like structures of the
body, structures of the mind also develop to fit with external world. He believed
that children differ from adults in their understanding of the world as for example,
they lack object permanency, that is, when we take an object from a young child
and hide it behind, the child would think that object has ceased to exist but
adults know that it is there at the back in hiding.
Children’s thinking is also devoid of adult logic as for example, children of 7
and 8 years of age assume that the quantity of liquid changes when poured in a
differently shaped container.
Piaget further described that process of adaptation make use of two mechanisms-
assimilation   and  accommodation. But as children grow they undertake
corrective actions in order to strike a balance between internal structures and
information they receive from outside world. 7
Biological Basis of According to Piaget infants have certain skills in regard to objects in their
Behaviour
environment. These skills are simple sensori-motor skills,  and these direct the
way in which the infant explores his or her environment and gain knowledge of
the world. They also indulge in greater exploratory skills called schemas.

For example, an infant knows how to grab his favorite rattle and thrust it into his
mouth. The  child  has  the  schema  of  the  rattle  within.  When  the  child  comes
across some other object, say daddy’s expensive watch, he easily learns to transfer
his “grab and thrust” that also into his mouth. This now is another schema of the
new object. This Piaget called assimilation, specifically assimilating a new object
into an old schema.

When the infant comes across another object again — say a beach ball — he will
try his old schema of grab and thrust. This of course works poorly with the new
object.  So the schema will be adapted to the new object.  Perhaps, in this example,
“squeeze and drool” would be an appropriate title for the new schema. This is
called accommodation, specifically accomodating an old schema to a new object.

According to Piaget, they are directed at a balance between the structure of the
mind and the environment, at a certain congruency between the two, that would
indicate that you have a good (or at least good-enough) model of the universe.
This ideal state he calls equilibrium.
Piaget described four stages of development
1) Sensorimotor stage ( birth – 2 years),
2) Preoperational stage (2-7 years),
3) Concrete operational stage (7-11 years),
4) Formal operational stage ( 11 years and older)

1.5.2 Evolutionary
According to this theory, Darwin’s evolutionary theory is applied to explain
development. In this the main focus is on natural selection. It foucsses on genetic
factors as well as environmental factors contributing to human development .
According to this theory genetic and environmental mechanisms are the basic
influence in the development of humans and according to Darwin this is a
universal phenomenon. Those who are genetically strong will develop into a
stronger human as compared to those who have inherited weak genes. Also the
inherited factors woiuld work well only if there is a conducive environment and
hence the possibility of the good gene individual not making up to the high level
is present if the environment is not conducive. Darwin’s theory of evolution
involves the study of the genes and environmental mechanisms that underlie the
universal development of social and cognitive competencies. The interaction of
gene with the environment helps in the development of cognitive competencies
in the individual and the evolved processes help adapt these cognitive
competencies to the environmental demands. As well as societal demands.

It is well known that Konrad Lornez and Tinbergen studied the survival promoting
behaviour, especially imprinting amongst the animal species. Imprinting is a
behaviour seen amongst ducklings which immediately after birth stays very close
to the mother and follows her wherever she goes. This way it receives survival
support from the mother. This behaviour was termed as imprinting by the authors.
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Imprinting takes place during specific period of development and if mother duck Theoretical Perspectives of
Development
is not available to follow, ducklings follow any moving object that resembles the
mother.

This concept of imprinting influenced the psychologists to consider similar

developmental period sthat are critical for survival in humans also. The critical
period in the human context refers to the limited time span during development
when a child is biologically mature to acquire certain adaptive behaviours.
However, for this the child needs a supportive and encouraging environment
which would allow the child to explore and learn to interact with the environment.
To cite an example, if a child is not provided the needed stimulating environment,
even if the child has inherited the best of genes, it may not help much in adapting
cognitively to the varied demands of environment. Even malnutrition and similar
deficiencies may affect the child’s mental and physical growth and development.

Imprinting in animals and birds can be adapted to the bhumans also in a very
different way. It is a kind of an attachment. In fact taking the cue from imprinting,
John Bowlby applied these concepts to understand human development, especially
the attachment, the nearness to the mother figure or care giver, the fondling,
touching and talking to the infant etc. He put forth that attachment behaviour of
babies such as babbling, grasping etc. represents child’s indication to parents to
indulge in protective and fostering behaviour toward child which is a must for
healthy development.

Based on many research findings, the researchers came to certain broad

conclusions in regard to human development. These are presented below:
1) All evolutionarily-influenced characteristics develop, and this requires
examining not only the functioning of these characteristics in adults but
also their origin and the development from the fertilized egg to its mature
form.
2) All evolved characteristics develop as a result of interaction between
hereditarily acquired capabilities and factors with those of the environment
over a period of time.
3) Development is governed by or dependent on both genetic and environmental
factors.
4) Just the interaction of heredity and environment will not be sufficient for
learning   the  complexities  of  human  social  community  but  also  requires
time as nothing can be learnt in a short period of time. The child has to grow
up and in each stage of development different complexities arise and the
child learns about these complexities or imbibe the same through the process
of socialisation.
5) There are many aspects of childhood that are present have been learnt during
the process of evolution. These form the base for adulthood.
6) In children, there are many characteristics which function as adaptive
strategies.
7) It is also known that children are more flexible, have greater pliability and
plasticity and have greater ability to adapt.
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Biological Basis of Eventhough the above are some of the important functions of heredity and
Behaviour
environment and how humans develop, there is still a great need to comprehend
the cognitive, emotional and social competencies as these change over time. For
example we all know that children take a liking for some and hide away from
some others. Do these preferences for individuals or faces have any survival
value for the humans is an important question to be explored. Often one finds
young infants are able to distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar persons,
and the question arises as to whether this discrimination helps the children in
their survival.

Psychologists who are specialising in Darwin’s evolutionary theory and related

concepts are also delving deep into the process of learning, how flexibility aspect
in children is of value and how their easy adaptiveness to beahviour helps in
many ways in the process of development.

1.5.3 Learning
The evolutionary theory gave emphasis on the interaction of the gentic factors
with the environment. However learning theories considered development and
behaviour as learned . According to them every behaviour is learned and so can
be unlearned and one can also newly learn certain behaviours which are considered
desirable. Learning perspective was advocated by John Watson who was interested
to see if the findings of Pavlov (a Russian physiologist) could be applied to
human learning.

As is well known Pavlov discovered that dogs salivate to food, a natural reflex
response of the animal. But he also noticed that after some time the dog starts
salivating on seeing the person responsible for providing food to the dog. Thus a
neutral stimulus that is the food provider in course of time acquires the ability to
elicit a reflex response. Pavlov termed it as classical conditioning. Taking clue
from the findings of Pavlov, Watson experimented with an 11 month old little
boy Albert. He presented Albert with a white furry rat. Whenever Albert moved
to grab the rat a sharp loud noise was made that naturally frightened Albert, and
stopped him from reaching the rat. Gradually Albert came to associate noise
with rat and started fearing even the sight of rat.

Watson concluded that environment plays an important role in the development

of many behaviours in humans. He was of the view that children’s behaviour can
be modified by carefully controlling stimulus-response associations. Development
consists in a gradual increase in the number and strength of these associations.

Another learning perspective was put forward by B.F.Skinner whotermed his

theory as operant conditioning.. Skinner postulated that children’s behaviour
can be shaped by matching with reinforcement (reinforcement is anything that
increases or decreases the likelihood of the occurrence of a behaviour. It can be
in the form of reward or punishment). For example a child may be induced to do
homework on daily basis by giving him chocolate every time he or she completes
the homework. Further, chocolate can be substituted by praise. Similarly, a child
can be desisted from telling lie by giving him physical punishment and physical
punishment can be substituted by public humiliation.

Thus reward and punishment both act potently to shape behaviour. Skinner further
postulated that behaviour can be shaped using four types of reinforcement
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schedules. (i) fixed interval schedule (ii) variable interval schedule (iii) fixed Theoretical Perspectives of
Development
ratio schedule and (iv) variable ratio schedule. These are explained below:

Fixed Interval Schedule: Here the reward or reinforcement in a positive form is

given everytime a particular behaviour occurs. To give an example, you may
decide to take out the child for a joy ride every Sunday if the child completes
homework on time

Variable Interval Schedule: In this, e.g. you may reinforce the child’s efforts to
complete the homework by reinforcing or giving the child a reward on the first
Sunday, 4th Sunday etc.

Fixed Ratio Schedule: In this the reward or reinforcement is given after a certain
number of times the behaviour has occurred. As for example if the child
continually completes the homework for five days in a week reinforcement in
the form of reward will be given. Here every fifth response of the child is being
reinforced.

Variable Ratio schedule: In this, there is no fixed pattern. Instead of every fifth
response, at times the 4th response is reinforced and at another time the 7th response
and at yet another time the 10th response is reinforced. Thus there is no question
of the child eexpecting the reinforcement after 5th response etc., but will keep
doing the homework in the hope of getting a reward at sometime. To take an
example of an adult behaviour, one could consider gambling: Have you ever
thought why people keep sticking to gambling machines? Answer is very simple,
such machines are programmed on variable ratio schedule.

1.5.4 Endocrinology
Glands help regulate the internal environment of our body. There are two types
of glands- endocrine glands and exocrine glands. While the former secrete
hormones directly into the blood stream the latter that is the exocrine glands
secretes hormones through ducts. The exocrine glands include the salivary glands,
sweat glands and glands within the gastrointestinal tract. The exocrine glands
are the “glands of external secretion.”

On the other hand endocrine glands are those which secrete their hormones directly
into the blood and are also known as ductless glands. Major endocrine glands
are (i) Pituitary (ii) Adrenal (iii) Pineal and (iv) Thyroid gland. These are described
below:

Pituitary gland: It is also known as master gland as it controls and regulates

other glands through the release of various tropic hormones like Adrenocortico
tropic hormone or ACTH( which regulates the functioning of adrenal gland).
Another hormone Thyroid –Stimulating Hormone (TSH) regulates the functioning
of thyroid gland. The Luteinizing hormone or LH stimulates formation of egg in
the ovaries of women, while in males it promotes the development of testosterone,
growth hormone or GH also known as somatotropic hormone. This affects protein
metabolism thereby stimulating growth of cells and tissues of the entire body.

Adrenal gland is located above the kidneys. It has two parts (i) adrenal medulla
and (ii) adrenal cortex. Adrenal medulla helps prepare the body for emergency
functions while adrenal cortex affects metabolism of carbohydrates and salt in
the body. 11
Biological Basis of Pineal gland is located in the brain. It secretes melatonin, amine hormone. It
Behaviour
prepares us for daily chores by activating our body.

Thyroid gland produces thyroxin which regulates production of insulin in our

body. Insulin helps control glycogen level in our body. This gland also regulates
formation of calcium in our bones.

Other noteworthy glands are Parathyroid and pancreas.

Self Assessment Questions
Tick mark True or False T/F
1) Classical conditioning was developed by Pavlov T/F
2) Operant conditioning was developed by Skinner T/F
3) Skinner mentioned four types of reinforcement schedules T/F
4) Reinforcement can be both negative and positive T/F

1.5.5 Psychodynamic
As is known, this approach was put forward by Sigmund Freud. He developed
this perspective out of his observations of patients. According to him every
individual passes through stages of psychosexual development and at each stage
the person is faced with certain conflicts between biological drives and social
expectations. How these conflicts at each stage are resolved determines the
individual’s personality in later years. The person’s ability to learn, get along
with others and the ability to adjust and cope with stress and anxiety, are all part
of this stages of development and how the individual passes through the conflicts
that are part of this stage.
Freud further laid down that these conflicts revolve around the basic sexual energy
which he termed libido. Resolution of conflicts largely depended upon the way
parents handle this basic sexual drive in children.
Freud opined that personality has three parts—Id, Ego and Superego. Id represents
the unconscious and contains basic biological drives and needs. It is innate and
devoid of rationality. Ego is rational and rooted in reality. It strives to establish
balance between the irrational impulses and desires of Id. Superego is a learned,
normative structure of personality and it strives to thwart the gratification of the
needs expressed by the Id especially the ones that go against the norms of the
society. The ego on its part tries to balance between the Id’s desires, superego’s
restriction and the real life situation in the society.
Thus, ego ensures gratification of id through socially acceptable channels. For
example, a person moving on the road sees deliciously tasty mangos, Id wants to
eat those delicious mangos. But the person does not have money to buy mangos
and satisfy Id. Id may insist on stealing them and achieve satisfaction but Superego
warns that stealing is crime and sinful. Now Ego intervenes it may direct the
person to go back, arrange for money and buy mangos to satisfy Id or it may try
to arrive at some compromise between Id and superego through some other
alternative.
According to Freud the relationship between Id, ego and superego determines
the basic structure of personality.
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1.5.6 Social-cognitive Theoretical Perspectives of
Development
Since the psychodynamic perspective could not explain human development
satisfactorily and as it was also deterministic in that Freud said the personality
develops fully by the time the individual is 5 years of age and after which there
is very little change in the personality. Hence many more theories cam about to
explain personality and social development one of which was the social learning
theory which tried to explain development of children’s social behaviour with
the help of principles of conditioning and reinforcement. This led to the emergence
of social learning theory by Bandura (1977), who postulated that children acquire
new behaviour and responses by observing their parents and significant others.
For example you might have often seen small boys and girls putting on shoes
and sandals of their parents and trying to walk and behave like their parents.
This way they acquire new responses and mould their behaviour after adults.
Bandura called it modeling. Another type of social learning Bandura called was
the vicarious learning in which one learns to act and not to act just by observing
the consequences of behaviour of others. For example a child would not put his
hand in running fan because he has seen other child doing so and hurting himself.
However on the basis of later studies Bandura emphasised the role and importance
of thinking and cognition in observational learning. Researches show that
children’s ability to listen, remember, and abstract general rules from complex
sets of behaviour affects the process of imitation and learning. Therefore he
revised his theory and named it social-cognitive theory. According to him as
they grow up children become selective in what they imitate. Besides they also
observe others indulging in self-blame and self-praise for their behaviours.
Children also learn to appraise their behaviour through feedback about their
actions. All this lead them to develop a feeling of self-efficacy about themselves.
Self-efficacy is a belief in one’s abilities and characteristics and it guides a person’s
response in a given situation.

Match the following psychologists with different perspectives of development:

Sigmund Freud a) Learning perspective
Jean Piaget b) Psychodynamic perspective
Skinner B.F c) Social-cognitive perspective
Albert Bandura d) Cognitive perspective
Vygotsky e) Evolutionary perspective
John Bowlby f) Socio-cultural perspective

1.5.7 Socio-cultural 
You know that people living in different cultures have different cultural contexts.
Different cultures have different child rearing practices. Now the question arises
do different cultural contexts have differential impact upon development. Is this
impact universally applicable or is this confined to environmental conditions?
For example do American and Indian children differ as to when they start walking
or learn rudiments of language because of cultural contexts ? Socio-cultural
psychologists address themselves to relationship of cultural specific practices to
child development. They are concerned with how culture i.e. values, beliefs,
customs and traditions are transmitted to children. According to them social
interactions between children and significant others in the society makes children
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Biological Basis of acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that make a society’s culture. For
Behaviour
example rituals of marriage, child birth etc. are conveyed to children by elders in
the family. Children start receiving training at an early age. By the time they are
12 months old grandmothers train babies in the importance of sharing objects
and close, intimate social bonds while in American or Indian society the concept
of objects is just different.

Evolutionary psychologists further state that cognitive development is a socially

mediated process and depends upon the support of elders as children master new
tasks and skills. For example, learning of language helps children enter in greater
social interaction with elders and expedites the process adaptive competencies.
Interaction with elders in the society leads to continuous change in cognitive
capacities of children and that children of different cultures vary in it. Different
cultures place different emphasis on different tasks for children to learn. Hence
children in every culture develop unique strengths.

1.6 LET US SUM UP

In the above paragraphs we tried to understand the meaning of development
and what are the basic issues involved in the study of human development e.g.
dichotomy of continuity and discontinuity of development, domains of
development. We tried to make you understand these through examples. We also
discussed different theories of development. Different psychologists have taken
different approaches to explain the process of human development. We think
that after going through all this you will develop a fair understanding of what the
development is and able to express in your own words different aspects of
development.

1.7 UNIT END QUESTIONS

1) What do you understand by the term development and what are the domains
of development?
2) Differentiate between different approaches to development.
3) Discuss in detail the role of endocrine glands in human development.
4) Throw light upon the process of imitation and vicarious learning.
5) Do different cultures differently affect the process of development.
6) Do you think evolutionary process has anything to do with development?
Comment.
7) Put forward the cognitive theoretical perspective of development.
8) What do you understand by the evolutionary perspective of development?
9) Discuss the psychodynamic perspective of development.
10) Elucidate the social cognitive and socio cultural perspective of development.
11) What do you understand by the term critical periods. Discuss the critical
periods in perceptual development and the consequences thereof.

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12) Discuss the development of language and executive functions in terms of Theoretical Perspectives of
Development
cognitive development
13) What influences cognitive development? Is it heredity or environmental
factors
14) Describe in detail the development of the brain and nervous system.

1.8 SUGGESTED READINGS

Hurlock, E.B. (1997). Developmental Psychology A Life-Span Approach. Tata
McGraw Hill Publihsers, New Delhi
Richardson, K (2000). Developmental Psychology. How nature and Nurture
interact. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Mahwah, New Jersey

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