Psychology 1

Ecological Systems Theory- Urie Bronfenbrenner, formulated the Ecological Systems Theory to
explain how the inherent qualities of children and their environments interact to influence how they
grow and develop. The theory emphasizes the importance of studying children in multiple
environments, also known as ecological systems, in the attempt to understand their development.
Ecological model organizes contexts of development into five levels of external influence. These
levels are categorized from the most intimate level to the broadest.
 Micro system is the smallest and most immediate environment in which children live. This
involves personal relationships with family members, classmates, teachers and caregivers.
How these groups or individuals interact with the children will affect how they grow.
 Meso system encompasses the interaction of the different microsystems which children find
themselves in. It is, in essence, a system of microsystems and as such, involves linkages
between home and school, between peer group and family, and between family and
community.
 Exo system pertains to the linkages that may exist between two or more settings, one of
which may not contain the developing children but affect them indirectly nonetheless. Based
on the findings of Bronfenbrenner, people and places that children may not directly interact
with may still have an impact on their lives. Such places and people may include the parents’
workplaces, extended family members, and the neighborhood the children live in.
  Macro system is the largest and most distant collection of people and places to the children
that still have significant influences on them. This ecological system is composed of the
children’s cultural patterns and values, specifically their dominant beliefs and ideas, as well
as political and economic systems.
 Chronosystem adds the useful dimension of time, which demonstrates the influence of both
change and constancy in the children’s environments. The chronosystem may include a
change in family structure, address, parents’ employment status, as well as immense society
changes such as economic cycles and wars.

Behavioral theory of child development focus on how environmental interaction

influences behavior and is based on the theories of theorists such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov,
and B. F Skinner. Some theories are the following:

 Freud’s psychosexual theory, child development occurs in a series of stages focused on

different pleasure areas of the body. During each stage, the child encounters conflicts that
play a significant role in the course of development.
 Theory of psychosocial development describes growth and change throughout life,
focusing on social interaction and conflicts that arise during different stages of development.
Behavioral theories of child development focus on how environmental interaction influences
behavior and is based on the theories of theorists such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and
B. F. Skinner. These theories deal only with observable behaviors. Development is
considered a reaction to rewards, punishments, stimuli, and reinforcement. Two important
types of learning that emerged from this approach to development are classical
conditioning and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning involves learning by pairing
a naturally occurring stimulus with a previously neutral stimulus. Operant conditioning
utilizes reinforcement and punishment to modify behaviors.
 Cognitive theory is concerned with the development of a person's thought processes. It
also looks at how these thought processes influence how we understand and interact with
the world. Piaget then proposed a theory of cognitive development to account for the steps
and sequence of children's intellectual development. The Sensory motor Stage: A period
of time between birth and age two during which an infant's knowledge of the world is limited
 to his or her sensory perceptions and motor activities. Behaviors are limited to simple motor
responses caused by sensory stimuli. The Preoperational Stage: A period between ages 2
and 6 during which a child learns to use language. During this stage, children do not yet
understand concrete logic, cannot mentally manipulate information and are unable to take
the point of view of other people. The Concrete Operational Stage: A period between ages
7 and 11 during which children gain a better understanding of mental operations. Children
begin thinking logically about concrete events but have difficulty understanding abstract or
hypothetical concepts. The Formal Operational Stage: A period between age 12 to
adulthood when people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts. Skills such as
logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic planning also emerge during this
stage.
 According to social learning theory, behaviors can also be learned through observation
and modeling. Bandura's child development theory suggests that observation plays a critical
role in learning.
 Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory is where learning is an inherently social process.
Through interacting with others, learning becomes integrated into an individual's
understanding of the world.  It is with the help of more knowledgeable others that people are
able to progressively learn and increase their skills and scope of understanding.

Ethological theory claims that our behavior is part of our biological structure. According
to ethological theory, just as a child may receive certain physical characteristics passed on from a
previous generation, so to the child inherits certain behavioral traits to survive.
Organismic theories in psychology are a family of holistic psychological theories which tend to
stress the organization, unity, and integration of human beings expressed through each individual's
inherent growth or developmental tendency.
Dynamical systems theory has been used to enhance and simplify Erik Erikson's eight stages of
psychosocial development and offers a standard method of examining the universal pattern of
human development.
 Hope: trust vs. mistrust (oral-sensory, infancy, under 2 years) Is the first stage of Erik
Erikson's theory centers around the infant's basic needs being met by the parents and how
this interaction leads to trust or mistrust.
 Will: autonomy vs. shame/doubt (muscular-anal, toddlerhood, 2–4 years) as the child
gains control over eliminative functions and motor abilities, they begin to explore their
surroundings. Children at this age like to explore the world around them and they are
constantly learning about their environment.
 Purpose: initiative vs. guilt (loco motor-genital, early childhood, 5–8 years) the child
during this stage faces the complexities of planning and developing a sense of judgment.
During this stage, the child learns to take initiative, and prepares for leadership and goal
achievement roles. Activities sought out by a child in this stage may include risk-taking
behaviors, such as crossing a street alone or riding a bike without a helmet; both these
examples involve self-limits.
 Competence: industry vs. inferiority (latency, middle childhood, 9–12 years) this is
where a child must deal with demands to learn new skills or risk a sense of inferiority,
failure, and incompetence.
References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_development
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organismic_theory
https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/bronfenbrenner-ecological-theory/
https://www.verywellmind.com/child-development-theories-2795068
https://study.com/academy/lesson/ethological-theory-definition-lesson-quiz.html