MODULE 3 THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

2 Learning Objectives

What are the five basic issues in human development?

Where does each major theorist – Freud, Erikson, Skinner, Bandura, Piaget, and Gottlieb – stand
on each of these issues?

3 Theories of Human Development

Theory: Ideas proposed to describe/explain certain phenomena

Organizes facts/observations

Guides collection of new data

Should be internally consistent

Falsifiable: Hypothesis can be tested

Supported by data

5 Other Assumptions About Human Nature

Nature/Nurture: Heredity or environment most influential?

Goodness/Badness: Underlying good or evil

Active/Passive Development: Self determination or by others

Continuity/Discontinuity: Stages or gradual change

Quantitative/Qualitative Changes: Degree or transformation

Universal or Context Specific Development

6 Learning Objectives
What are the distinct features of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the theory?

7 Freud: Psychoanalytic Theory

Instincts and unconscious motivation

Id, Ego, and Superego formed from psychic energy (Libido)

Id: Instinctual nature of humans

Ego: Rational and objective

Superego: Internalized moral standards

Dynamic system: Regular conflicts within

8 Freud’s Psychosexual Development

Child moves through five stages

Stages result from conflict between Id & Superego

Conflict creates anxiety

Ego defends against anxiety with defense mechanisms

Early experiences have long-term effects on personality

9 Strengths and Weaknesses of Freud’s Theory

Awareness of unconscious motivation

Emphasized important early experience

Weaknesses

Ambiguous, inconsistent, not testable

Not supported by research

10 Learning Objectives

How does Erikson’s psychoanalytic theory compare to Freud’s theory?

What crisis characterizes each of Erikson’s psychosocial stages?

11 Erik Erikson

Most influential neo-Freudian

Some differences with Freud

Less emphasis on sexual urges

More emphasis on rational ego

More positive, adaptive view of human nature

Development continues through adulthood

12 Erikson’s Stages: Approximate Ages

Trust vs. Mistrust: Importance of responsive caregiver

Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt: Preschool

Initiative vs. Guilt: Preschool

Industry vs. Inferiority: School-age children

Identity vs. Role Confusion: Adolescence

Intimacy vs. Isolation: Young adult

Generativity vs. Stagnation: Middle age

Integrity vs. Despair: Old Age

15 Strengths and Weaknesses of Erikson

Focus on identity crisis of adolescence still most relevant

Emphasis on rational and adaptive nature

Interaction of biological & social influences

Weaknesses

Sometimes vague and difficult to test

Does not explain how development comes about

16 Learning Objectives

What are the distinct features of the learning theories covered in this chapter: Watson’s classical
conditioning, Skinner’s operant conditioning, and Bandura’s social-cognitive theory?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the learning theories?

17 Learning Theories: Classical Conditioning

Behaviorism: Conclusions should be based on observable behavior only

Tabula Rasa - Environmental view

Association Learning

UCS: Built-in, unlearned stimulus

UCR: Automatic, unlearned response

CS: Stimulus causes learned response

CR: Learned response

18 The three phases of classical conditioning

19 Learning Theories: Operant Conditioning

Probability of behavior based on environmental consequences

Reinforcement

Pleasant consequence

Increases probability
Punishment

Decreases probability

Unpleasant, aversive

20 Possible consequences of whining behavior.

Moosie comes into the TV room and sees his father talking and joking with his sister. Lulu, as
the two watch a football game. Soon Moosie begins to whine, louder and louder, that he wants
them to turn off the television so he can play Nintendo games. If you were Moosie’s father, how
would you react? Here are four possible consequences of Moosie’s behavior. Consider both the
type of consequences – whether it is a pleasant or aversive stimulus – and whether it is
administered (“added to”) or withdrawn. Notice that reinforcers strengthen whining behavior, or
make it more likely in the future, whereas punishers weaken it.

21 Bandura: Social Cognitive Theory

Formerly called social learning theory

Humans think, anticipate, believe, etc.

Cognitive Emphasis: Observational learning

BoBo doll studies

Model praised or punished

Child learned to imitate rewarded model

Vicarious reinforcement

22 Learning Theory: Strengths & Weaknesses

Precise and testable theory

Carefully controlled experiments

Practical applications across lifespan

Weaknesses
Inadequate account of lifespan changes

Ignored genetic and maturational processes

23 Learning Objectives

What is Piaget’s perspective on cognitive development?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Piaget’s theory?

24 Piaget: Cognitive Developmental Theory

Intelligence: Ability to adapt to environment

Constructivism: Understanding based on experience

Interactionist

Both biological maturation and experience required for developmental progress

At each new stage, children think in a qualitatively different way

26 Cognitive Developmental Theory

Strengths

Well-accepted by developmentalists

Well-researched, mostly supported

Influenced education and parenting

Weaknesses

Ignores motivation and emotion

Stages not universal especially the last one

27 Learning Objective

How do systems theories, in general, conceptualize development?

28 Contextual/Systems Theories

Lev Vygotsky: Sociocultural perspective

Cognitive development is a social process

Problem solving aided by dialogues

Gottlieb: Evolutionary/Epigenetic Systems

Genes, neural activity, behavior, and environment mutually influential

Normal genes and normal early experiences most helpful

29 Learning Objectives

What are the essential elements of Gottlieb’s epigenetic psychobiological systems perspective of
development?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the systems approaches to development?

30 Gottlieb – Developmental Psychobiology

Interaction: Biological & environmental influences

Individual programmed through evolution

Current behavior results from past adaptation

Ethology: Behavior adaptive to specific environments

E.g., food scarcity creates nomadic behaviors

Species-specific behavior of animals & humans

31 Gottlieb: Epigenesis

Instinctual behavior may or may not occur

Depends on early physical and social environments

Genes alone don’t influence behavior

A system of interactions

People develop in changing contexts

Historical

Cultural

32 Strengths and Weaknesses

Stresses the interaction of nature and nurture

Weaknesses

Only partially formulated and tested

No coherent developmental theory

33 Learning Objective

How can we characterize the theories in general?

34 Participation Question 1 (from Box 2.1)

Directions: Choose one option for each statement and write down the corresponding letter.

Biological influences and learning experiences are

thought to contribute to development. Overall:

a. Biological factors contribute far more

b. Biological factors contribute somewhat more

c. Both biological and environmental factors

contribute equally

d. Environmental factors contribute somewhat more

e.Environmental factors contribute far more

35 Audience Participation Question 2

Children are innately:

a. Mostly bad; they are born with basically negative, selfish impulses

b. Neither good nor bad; they are tabula rasae (blank slates)

c. Both good and bad; they are born with predispositions that are both negative and positive

d. Mostly good; they are born with many positive tendencies

36 Audience Participation Question 3

People are basically:

a. Active beings who are the prime determiners of their own abilities and traits

b. Passive beings whose characteristics are molded either by social influences (parents, other
significant people, and outside events) or by biological changes beyond their control.

37 Audience Participation Question 4

Development proceeds:

a. through stages so that the individual changes rather abruptly into a different kind of person
than s/he was in an earlier stage

b. In a variety of ways – some stage-like, and some gradual or continuous

c. Continuously – in small increments without abrupt changes or distinct stages

Activity 1

When you compare the development of different individuals, you see:

a. Many similarities: Children and adults develop along universal paths and experience similar
changes at similar ages

b. Many differences: Different people often undergo different sequences of change and have
widely different timetables of development