Theories of Development

Ms. Riella Mar S. Agapito, RPm

 Basic Theoretical Issues

• ISSUE 1: IS DEVELOPMENT ACTIVE OR REACTIVE?

• ISSUE 2: IS DEVELOPMENT CONTINUOUS OR

DISCONTINUOUS?
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
 PERSPECTIVE 1:
PSYCHOANALYTIC
• SIGMUND FREUD
• PSYCHOSEXUAL DEVELOPMENT
 PERSPECTIVE 1:
PSYCHOANALYTIC
 PERSPECTIVE 2:
LEARNING
• Development, according to learning
perspective theorists, is a relatively
long-lasting change brought on by
experience or environmental adaption.
• BEHAVIORISM
• SOCIAL LEARNING/SOCIAL COGNITIVE
 Behaviorism

• IVAN PAVLOV
• Classical Conditioning
Behaviorism
• JOHN B. WATSON
• According to Watson, psychology should
focus on observable behaviors that can be
measured using the scientific method. His
most famous examples of this are the
"dozen healthy infants quote" and the
Little Albert experiment.
Behaviorism
• B.F SKINNER
• OPERANT CONDITIONING
• According to Skinner's operant conditioning theory,
rewards and penalties lead to behavior modification and
learning. A reaction is strengthened by reinforcement,
which increases the likelihood that the behavior will
recur in the future. On the other hand, punishment
diminishes a reaction and reduces the likelihood that the
activity will happen again
Behaviorism
SOCIAL LERANING
Social Learning (Social Cognitive) Theory

• ALBERT BANDURA
• According to Albert Bandura's social learning
theory, people learn primarily through observation
and modeling. The idea that learning is the direct
result of interacting with the environment is only
one aspect of Bandura's theory.
 PERSPECTIVE 3:
COGNITIVE

• The cognitive perspective focuses on

mental processes and how those processes
manifest in behavior. This viewpoint
embraces theories with both organismic
and mechanical influences.
 PERSPECTIVE 3:
COGNITIVE

• JEAN PIAGET
• PIAGET’S COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY
• Organization, adaptability, and equilibration
are three interconnected processes that
lead to this cognitive development.
PERSPECTIVE 3:
COGNITIVE
 PERSPECTIVE 3:
COGNITIVE
• LEV VYGOTSKY
• Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
• According to Vygotsky's sociocultural theory
from 1978, cognitive development is a
collaborative process. People learn through
social interaction, according to Vygotsky. As
they are introduced to a way of life, they
develop cognitive abilities. Children can
internalize their society's ways of thinking and
acting through shared activities.
PERSPECTIVE 3:
COGNITIVE
 PERSPECTIVE 3:
COGNITIVE
• INFORMATION-PROCESSING APPROACH
• BY WATCHING AND EVALUATING THE MENTAL
PROCESSES INVOLVED IN PERCEIVING AND HANDLING
INFORMATION, ONE CAN EXAMINE COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT.
 PERSPECTIVE 4:
CONTEXTUAL
• Urie Bronfenbrenner
• Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory

Individual differences such as age, sex, health,

aptitudes, or temperament are present in this situation.
The child is considered as actively shaping
development rather than just being the result of
growth. However, the child does not live in a vacuum.
We must view the child in the context of the various
circumstances she is surrounded by in order to
comprehend growth.
 PERSPECTIVE 4:
CONTEXTUAL
• Bronfenbrenner's
Ecological systems
Theory
 PERSPECTIVE 5:
EVOLUTIONARY/SOCIOLOGICAL
• One of the most significant theoretical
contributions of contemporary science is
Darwin's theory of natural selection.
• Natural selection, which is used by the
natural world to influence evolutionary
processes, is described as the differential
survival and reproduction of distinct varieties
of members of a species.
 PERSPECTIVE 5:
EVOLUTIONARY/SOCIOLOGICAL
• John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory
• The infants that remained close to their
mothers would have survived to become
parents themselves during the evolution of
the human species. Bowlby postulated that
a biological need to stay in touch with
mothers and babies had developed over
time.