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CHILD
GUIDANCE:
PARENTING THEORY
MR S . CRI ZA L YN MAY S ALA Z A R-GA URI NO
 PARENTING THEORY
1. B.F. SKINNER: OPERANT CONDITIONING
Skinner believed that behavior is motivated by the
consequences we receive for the behavior: reinforcements and
punishments. His idea that learning is the result of
consequences is based on the law of effect, which was first
proposed by psychologist Edward Thorndike. According to the
law of effect, behaviors that are followed by consequences
that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to be
repeated, and behaviors that are followed by
unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated.
 2 KINDS OF REINFORCEMENT
Primary reinforcers are reinforcers that have innate
reinforcing qualities. These kinds of reinforcers are not
learned. Water, food, sleep, shelter, sex, and touch, among
others, are primary reinforcers. Pleasure is also a primary
reinforcer.
A secondary reinforcer has no inherent value and only has
reinforcing qualities when linked with a primary reinforcer.
Praise, linked to affection, is one example of a secondary
reinforcer,
such as when you called out
“Great shot!”
 EVERYDAY CONNECTION:
BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION IN CHILDREN

Behavior modification uses the principles of operant

conditioning to accomplish behavior change so that
undesirable behaviors are switched out for more socially
acceptable ones.

In order for behavior modification to be effective, the

reinforcement must be connected with the behavior, the
reinforcement must matter to the child, and the process must
be performed consistently over time.
 PARENTING THEORY
2. PIAGET: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY
Piaget believed that children’s intellectual skills change over
time based on biological predispositions and their own
individual interactions with the world. He was very critical of
teacher-directed instruction, believing that teachers or
caregivers who take control of the child’s learning place the
child into a passive role. According to Piaget, children of
differing ages interpret the world differently; therefore, he
divided this learning into four stages.
His stages assumed a sequence of thinking patterns with
these key features:
They always happen in the same order.
No stage is ever skipped.
Each stage is a significant transformation from the stage
before it.
Each later stage builds upon and incorporates the earlier
stages.
4 Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor Stage
Preoperational Stage - egocentrism
Concrete Operational Stage
Formal Operational Stage
 PARENTING THEORY
3. BANDURA’S SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY AND
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
Observational learning is a component of Albert Bandura’s
Social Learning Theory, which asserts that individuals can learn
new responses via observation of key others’ behaviors.
Observational learning does not necessarily require
reinforcement, but instead hinges on the presence of others,
referred to as social models. Social models typically possess a
higher status or authority compared to the observer
(parents, teachers, or police officers).
 FOUR PARTS OF
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING PROCESS
attention - one must pay attention to what one is
observing in order to learn.
retention - to learn, one must be able to retain the
observed behavior into one’s memory.
initiation - acknowledges that the learner must be
able to execute, or initiate the learned behavior.
motivation - to engage in observational learning.
 PARENTING THEORY
4. BIOECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THEORY
Urie Bronfenbrenner was one of the first
psychologists to adopt a holistic perspective on
human development via his Bioecological Systems
Theory, which had a widespread influence on the
way psychologists and other social scientists
approach the study of human beings and
their environments.
 SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTS
Bronfenbrenner emphasized the importance of the
social environments in which children are raised, and
saw the breakdown of the family as the leading cause
of the ever-growing rates of alienation, apathy,
rebellion, delinquency, and violence among American
youth. His work led to new directions in research and
the design of programs and policies affecting the well-
being of children and families.
 4 SYSTEMS
Microsystem: Immediate environments such as
family, school, peer group, neighborhood, and
childcare environments.
Mesosystem: A system comprised of connections
between immediate environments (i.e., a child’s
home and school).
Exosystem: External environmental settings which
only indirectly affect development, such as parent’s
workplace.
 4 SYSTEMS

Macrosystem: The larger cultural context (Eastern

vs. Western culture, national economy, political
culture, subculture).

Later a fifth system was added:

Chronosystem: The patterning of environmental
events and transitions over the course of life.
 PARENTING THEORY
5. WATSON: BEHAVIORISM
John B. Watson was an influential American
psychologist whose most famous work occurred
during the early 20th century at Johns Hopkins
University. Watson conducted research on animal
behavior, child-rearing, and advertising. Along with
this research, he conducted the controversial
“Little Albert” study.
Watson believed that children should be treated as
young adults.

In his book, he warned against the inevitable dangers

of a mother providing too much love and affection.
Watson’s slogan was ‘not more babies but better
brought up babies’. Watson argued for the nurture side
of the nature-nurture debate and contended that
everything is built into a child through their
interactions with their environment.
Thus, according to Watson, parents and caregivers hold
complete responsibility for their children’s actions
since they choose the environment into which their
child is reared.

Based on the results from his “Little Albert” study,

Watson concluded that caregivers can shape a child’s
behavior and development simply by taking control of
all stimulus-response associations.
 PARENTING THEORY
6. FREUD AND PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES OF
PERSONALITY
One of the most important psychological approaches
to understanding personality is based on the
theorizing of the Austrian physician and psychologist
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), who founded what is
known today as the psychodynamic approach to
understanding personality
In terms of free will, Freud did not believe that we are
able to control our own behaviors. Rather, he believed
that all behaviors are predetermined by motivations
that lie outside our awareness, in the unconscious.
These forces show themselves in our dreams, in
neurotic symptoms such as obsessions, while we are
under hypnosis, and in Freudian “slips of the tongue”
in which people reveal their unconscious desires in
language.
The mind as an iceberg. Note
how the Ego is largely visible
above the water in the image,
while the superego and id are
submerged at varying depths.
 ID
the basis of our most primitive impulses
entirely unconscious
drives our most important motivations, including
the sexual drive (libido) and the aggressive or
destructive drive (Thanatos)
is driven by the pleasure principle—the desire for
immediate gratification of our sexual and
aggressive urges.
 EGO
based on the reality principle—the idea that we
must delay gratification of our basic motivations
until the appropriate time with the appropriate
outlet
is the largely conscious controller or decision-
maker of personality
serves as the intermediary between the desires of
the id and the constraints of society contained in
the superego
 SUPEREGO
In stark contrast to the id, the superego represents
our sense of morality and doing what is “right”. The
superego tells us all the things that we shouldn’t do,
or the duties and obligations of society. The superego
strives for perfection, and when we fail to live up to
its demands we feel guilty.
 PARENTING THEORY
7. ERIK ERIKSON’S PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY
Erik Erikson suggested that our relationships and
society’s expectations motivate much of our behavior.
Unlike Freud, Erikson believed that we are not driven
by unconscious urges. He is considered the father of
developmental psychology because his model gives us
a guideline for the entire life span. Erikson expanded
on Freud’s theory by emphasizing the importance of
culture in parenting practices and motivations.
Erikson divided the lifespan into eight stages. In each
stage, we have a major psychosocial task to accomplish
or crisis to overcome.

Successful completion of each developmental task

results in a sense of competence and a healthy
personality. Failure to master these tasks leads to
feelings of inadequacy. Erikson believed that our
personality continues to take shape throughout our
lifespan as we face these challenges in living
 PARENTING THEORY
8. JACQUES ROUSSEAU AND CHILDLIKE INNOCENCE
During the eighteenth century, Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s
views started to change parenting practices. Rousseau
contended that children were inherently innocent, weak,
and easily tempted. He believed that humans were born
pure until one’s interactions with the environment
caused negative effects on one’s development. Rousseau
also believed that children needed protection from child
labor and negative influences within civilization.
Rousseau’s work is credited as being the first developmental
account of childhood via his emphasis on maturation and stages
of development:
Childhood (0 to 12 years): children are guided by simple
impulses and simply react to their surroundings.
Pre-Adolescence (12 to 16 years): children begin to develop
reason and are able to comprehend more abstract ideas.
Puberty and Adulthood (16 years and onward): children
develop into adults that can navigate society and its moral
issues.
These stages elicited guidelines outlining “developmentally-
appropriate” practices in parenting and education. Rousseau’s
work also emphasized the importance of play and teaching
within the early years of childhood education.
 PARENTING THEORY
9. MARIA MONTESSORI: THE MONTESSORI METHOD
According to Montessori, a child’s mind is quickly
developing within the first six years of life (“the
absorbent mind”) whereby a child takes in as much as
possible from one’s environment.
Key hallmarks of The Montessori Method include self-
directed, hands-on experiential learning, collaborative
play, and freedom of movement and activity within a
safe, multi-sensory environment.
Trained teachers maximize these hallmarks by offering
developmentally-appropriate activities that promote
individualized learning to optimize children’s physical,
cognitive, social, and emotional development.

Children work at their own pace and engage in free

choice activities within clear, firm, reasonable, and
developmentally-appropriate boundaries established by
trained teachers. Montessori’s research deduced that
these practices stimulate deeper learning experiences,
independent thinking, problem-solving, creativity,
confidence, and lifelong enthusiasm for learning.
 PARENTING THEORY
10. VYGOTSKY: SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY
Lev Vygotsky believed that a person has both a set of abilities
and a set of potential abilities that can be reached if given the
proper guidance from others.

Sociocultural Theory emphasizes the importance of culture

and interaction in the development of cognitive abilities.
Vygotsky concentrated more on children’s immediate social
and cultural environment and their interactions with
adults and peers.
Vygotsky theorized that through guided participation
with a teacher or a more capable person, also known as
scaffolding, a child can learn cognitive skills within a
certain range known as the zone of proximal
development.

According to Vygotsky, development occurs first

through children’s immediate social interactions and
then moves to the individual level as they began to
internalize their learning.
The zone of proximal
development (ZPD) is the
distance between a child’s
potential to learn and the
actual learning that takes
place.
Vygotsky hypothesized that
a “quality teacher” first
identifies a child’s ZPD and
then helps the child learn
beyond their ZPD.
After this, the teacher (or
any person with more
advanced skills) gradually
withdraws support until the
child can perform the task
without assistance.
 REFERENCE

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