Psychoanalytic theory

postulates a multitude of different change mechanisms, and a host of new ways of conceptualizing the change
process continue to emerge as psychoanalytic theories themselves evolve and proliferate. At the most basic
level, there is an understanding that change generally involves making the unconscious conscious, as
expressed by Freud’s oft cited axiom: “Where id has been there shall ego be.” Although Freud’s
understanding of the nature of the change process evolved over the course of his lifetime, central to his mature
thinking was the idea that change involves first becoming aware of our instinctual impulses and unconscious
wishes, and then learning to deal with them in a mature, rational, and reflective fashion. For Freud, a central
premise was thus that we are driven by unconscious wishes that we are unaware of and this lack of awareness
results in driven or self-defeating behavior. Freud believed we delude ourselves about reasons for our
behaviors and this self-deception limits our choice. By becoming aware of our unconscious wishes and our
defenses against them we increase the choices available to us. Thus, as we decrease the extent to which we
are driven by unconscious factors we assume a greater degree of agency.
Psychosexual Stages of Development

Erik Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development

Unlike Freud's theory of psychosexual stages, however, Erikson's theory described the impact of social experience
across the whole lifespan. Erikson was interested in how social interaction and relationships played a role in the
development and growth of human beings.
Conflict During Each Stage
Each stage in Erikson's theory builds on the preceding stages and paves the way for following periods of development.
In each stage, Erikson believed people experience a conflict that serves as a turning point in development
In Erikson's view, these conflicts are centered on either developing a psychological quality or failing to develop that
quality. During these times, the potential for personal growth is high but so is the potential for failure.
If people successfully deal with the conflict, they emerge from the stage with psychological strengths that will serve
them well for the rest of their lives. If they fail to deal effectively with these conflicts, they may not develop the
essential skills needed for a strong sense of self.
Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget took the intellectual functioning of adults as the central phenomenon to be explained
and wanted to know how an adult acquired the ability to think logically and to draw valid conclusions about the
world from evidence. Piaget’s theory rests on the fundamental notion that the child develops through stages until
arriving at a stage of thinking that resembles that of an adult. The four stages given by Piaget are: (1) the
sensorimotor stage from birth to 2 years, (2) the preoperational stage from 2 to 7 years, (3) the concrete-operational
stage from 7 to 12 years, and (4) the stage of formal operations that characterizes the adolescent and the adult. One
of Piaget’s fundamental assumptions is that early intellectual growth arises primarily out of the child’s interactions
with objects in the environment.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian teacher who is considered a pioneer in learning in social contexts. As a
psychologist, he was also the first to examine how our social interactions influence our cognitive growth. He was
convinced that learning occurred through interactions with others in our communities: peers, adults, teachers, and
other mentors. Vygotsky sought to understand how people learn in a social environment and created a unique theory
on social learning. He determined that teachers have the ability to control many factors in an educational setting,
including tasks, behaviors, and responses. As a result, he encouraged more interactive activities to promote cognitive
growth, such as productive discussions, constructive feedback, and collaboration with others. Vygotsky also stated
that culture was a primary determinant of knowledge acquisition. He argued that children learn from the beliefs and
attitudes modeled by their culture.
Vygotsky's theory, which emphasizes culture, language, and internalization, arguably represents the most complete,
original, and coherent view available. In Vygotsky's system, children's cognitive development is affected by culture
in two ways. First, children acquire most of their knowledge (the contents of thought) through culture. In addition, not
only does culture teach children what to think but also how to think. Intellectual growth emerges out of a dialectical
process in which problem-solving experiences are shared with parents, teachers, siblings, peers, etc. Children can
solve some problems by themselves, yet other more challenging problems require help from social agents. Vygotsky
named the difference between what children can and cannot do by themselves as the zone of proximal development.
He insisted that not respecting this zone, either by helping children on tasks they can complete on their own, or by not
helping enough on difficult tasks, impedes cognitive development. Ideally, people interacting with children initially
should guide most of the problem-solving process and eventually transfer this responsibility to the child. Language
represents the core type of interaction which allows social agents to convey information to children. Gradually,
children's own language becomes their principal tool of intellectual growth, first as speech-for-self emitted aloud
(private speech) to guide and control their own actions and eventually as silent self-talk (inner speech). Vygostky
called this internalization – the process of using an instrument of thought (inner speech) that was at first located outside
children (social speech). Much of Vygotsky's theorizing has lead to empirical predictions and most have received
support.
Information-Processing Theory
individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity for processing information, which allows them to acquire
increasingly complex knowledge and skills (Knapp & Morton, 2017).
Information Processing is how individuals perceive, analyze, manipulate, use, and remember information. Unlike
Piaget’s theory, this approach proposes that cognitive development is ongoing and gradual, not organized into distinct
stages. The areas of basic cognitive changes generally occur in five areas:
Attention. Improvements are seen in selective attention(the process by which one focuses on one stimulus
while tuning out another), as well as divided attention (the ability to pay attention to two or more stimuli at
the same time).
Memory. Improvements are seen in working memory and long-term memory.
Processing Speed. With maturation, children think more quickly. Processing speed improves sharply between
age five and middle adolescence, levels off around age 15, and does not appear to change between late
adolescence and adulthood.
Organization of Thinking. As children mature, they are more planful, they approach problems with strategy,
and are flexible in using different strategies in different situations.
Metacognition. Older children can think about thinking itself. This often involves monitoring one’s own
cognitive activity during the thinking process. Metacognitionprovides the ability to plan ahead, see the future
consequences of an action, and provide alternative explanations of events.
Ethological
Ethology is the biological study of behavior and is closely related to evolutionary biology, which explores the
evolutionary reasons for behavior. In ethology we find the intersection of animal and human behavior, with
connections established between biological instincts and some of our most seemingly human drives. This is most
clearly demonstrated in the area of attachment. Many species will imprint on a potential caretaker - presuming that
first visual contact to be "mom" and then literally following that "mom" - whether it be an individual of a different
species or a toy. We see ethology here as there is clearly a biological drive that causes this behavior and evolution
here as that caregiver is necessary for the survival of the individual and the species. As we will discuss later, this
imprinting on a caregiver translates into human attachment and may have a lasting impact on relationships throughout
life.
John Bowlby’s Attachment theory stressed that attachment to a caregiver over the first year of life has important
consequences throughout the life span.
• Positive and secure attachment will likely develop positively in childhood and adulthood.
• Negative and insecure attachment will likely not be optimal.
Ecological Theory
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1986, 2004; Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998, 2006) holds that
development reflects the influence of several environmental systems.
The theory identifies five environmental systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and
chronosystem
• The microsystem is the setting in which the individual lives.
• Family, peers, school, and neighborhood.
 • The mesosystem involves relations between
microsystems or connections between
contexts.
• Relation of family experiences to
school experiences, school
experiences to religious experiences,
and family experiences to peer
experiences
• The exosystem consists of links between a
social setting in which the individual does not
have an active role and the individual’s
immediate context.
• For example, a husband’s or child’s
experiences at home may be
influenced by a mother’s experiences
at work.
• The macrosystem involves the culture in
which individuals live.
• Culture refers to the behavior
patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a group of people that are passed on from generation to
generation
• The chronosystem consists of the patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course, as
well as sociohistorical circumstances.
• example., divorce

References:
Santrock, J. (2018). A topical approach to life-span development, 9E. Dubuque, Iowa: McGraw-Hill.
human behaviour - Piaget’s theory. (2022). Retrieved 18 March 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/human-
behavior/Piagets-theory
Kurt, S. (2022). Lev Vygotsky - Sociocultural Theory of Cognitive Development - Educational Technology. Retrieved
18 March 2022, from https://educationaltechnology.net/lev-vygotsky-sociocultural-theory-of-cognitive-development/
Safran, J., & Gardner-Schuster, E. (2022). Psychoanalysis. Retrieved 18 March 2022
What Are Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development?. (2022). Retrieved 18 March 2022, from
https://www.verywellmind.com/freuds-stages-of-psychosexual-development-2795962
Information processing theories | Educational psychology. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/edpsy/chapter/information-processing-theories/
Vygotsky's theory - an overview | ScienceDirect topics. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/vygotskys-theory