Theories of

Child Development

Jean Piaget • Lev Vygotsky

Abraham Maslow • B.F. Skinner •
Erik Erickson • Howard Gardner
 Why Study Child & Parenting
Development Theories?

Theories help people:

– Organize their ideas about raising children.
– Understand influences on parenting.
– Discover more than one way to interact with
children.
– Analyze the benefits and consequences of
using more than one theory.
 Why Study the Selected
Theories?
The selected theories:
– Have been popular and influential.

– Represent different approaches to parent-

child interaction.

– Offer help in the “real world” of daily child-

rearing.

– Make good common sense.

 Lev Vygotsky - 1896-1934
The cultures in which children are raised and the ways in which they interact with
people influence their intellectual development. From their cultural environments,
children learn values, beliefs, skills, and traditions that they will eventually pass on
to their own children. Through cooperative play, children learn to behave
according to the rules of their cultures. Learning is an active process. Learning is
constructed.

Main points
• Development is primarily driven by
language, social context and adult
guidance.

Key Words
• Zone of proximal development
• Scaffolding
What is: Zone of Proximal Development
It is a range of tasks that a child cannot yet do alone but can
accomplish when assisted by a more skilled partner.

There is a zone of proximal development for each task. When

learners are in the zone, they can benefit from the teacher’s
assistance.

Learners develop at different rates so they may differ in their ability

to benefit from instructions.
 What is: Scaffolding
Assistance that allows students to complete
tasks that they are not able to complete
independently.

Effective scaffolding is responsive to students’

needs. In classroom, teachers’ provide
scaffolding by:
• Breaking content into manageable pieces
• Modeling skills
• Provide practice and examples with prompts
• Letting go when students are ready
Life is a series of stages. Each individual must pass through each
stage. The way in which a person handles each of these stages
affects the person’s identity and self-concept. These psychosocial
stages are:
1. Trust vs. mistrust (birth to 1 year)
2. Autonomy vs. shame & doubt (2 to 3 years)
3. Initiative vs. guilt (4 to 5 years)
4. Industry vs. inferiority (6 to 11 years)
5. Identity vs. role confusion (12 to 18 years)
6. Intimacy vs. isolation (young adulthood)
7. Generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood)
8. Integrity vs. despair (older adulthood)

Psychosocial Theory of Human

Development – Erik Erikson
 Basic Important
Stage Age Summary
Conflict Event
Birth to 12 The infant must form a first loving, trusting
Oral-sensory to 18 Trust vs. Mistrust Feeding relationship with the caregiver, or develop a
months sense of mistrust.

The child's energies are directed toward the

development of physical skill, including walking,
18 months Autonomy vs. Toilet
Muscular-Anal grasping, and rectal sphincter control. The child
to 3years Shame/Doubt training
learns control but may develop shame and doubt
if not handled well.

The child continues to become more assertive

3 to 6 Initiative vs.
Locomotor Independence and to take more initiative, but may be too
years Guilt
forceful, leading to guilt feelings.

The child must deal with demands to learn new

6 to 12
Latency Industry vs. Inferiority School skills or risk a sense of inferiority, failure and
years
incompetence.

12 to 18 Identity vs. Peer The teenager must achieve a sense of identity in

Adolescence
years Role Confusion relationships occupation, sex roles, politics, and religion.

Young 19 to 40 Intimacy vs. Love The young adult must develop intimate
Adulthood years Isolation relationships relationships or suffer feelings of isolation.

Middle 40 to 65 Generativity vs. Each adult must find some way to satisfy and
Parenting
Adulthood years Stagnation support the next generation.

Reflection on
65 to Ego Integrity vs. The culmination is a sense of oneself as one is
Maturity and acceptance
death Despair and of feeling fulfilled.
of one's life
Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Human
Development
Ego Integrity vs. Despair
Generativity vs. Stagnation

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Identity vs. Role Confusion

Industry vs. Inferiority

Initiative vs. Guilt

Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt

Trust vs. Mistrust

 Critique of Erik Erikson
• Supporters of this Eriksonian theory, suggest that those best
equipped to resolve the crisis of early adulthood are those who
have most successfully resolved the crisis of adolescence.

• On the other hand, Erikson's theory may be questioned as to

whether his stages must be regarded as sequential, and only
occurring within the age ranges he suggests. There is debate as
to whether people only search for identity during the
adolescent years or if one stage needs to happen before other
stages can be completed.
 Theory of Behaviorism-
B.F Skinner & others

Based on Locke’s tabula rasa (“clean slate”) idea, Skinner

theorized that a child is an “empty organism” --- that is, an
empty vessel --- waiting to be filled through learning
experiences.

Any behavior can be changed through the use of positive

and negative reinforcement. Behaviorism is based on cause-
and-effect relationships.

Pavlo's dog game

 Classical Conditioning

Pavlov's Dogs
 Major elements of behaviorism
include:
– Positive and negative reinforcement
– Use of stimulus and response
– Modeling
– Conditioning.

B.F.
Skinner

Ivan Pavlov Albert Bandura

 Skinner Box

Operant Conditioning
Theory of Multiple Intelligence

Howard Gardner
 Howard Gardner’s theory
Howard Gardner defines intelligence as
"the capacity to solve problems or to
fashion products that are valued in one or
more cultural setting" (Gardner & Hatch,
1989). Using biological as well as cultural
research, he formulated a list of seven
intelligences. This new outlook on
intelligence differs greatly from the
traditional view that usually recognizes only
two intelligences, verbal and mathematical.
Who is Howard Gardner?
• Howard Gardner is a psychologist and
Professor at Harvard University's
Graduate School of Education.
• Based on his study of many people,
Gardner developed the theory of
multiple intelligences.
• Gardner defines intelligence as “ability
to solve problems or to create products
which are valued in one or more
cultural settings.”
• According to Gardner, 8 different
types of intelligence are displayed
by humans.
Gardner’s Intelligences:
 Logical-Mathematical
Intelligence
consists of the ability to:
• detect patterns
• reason deductively
• think logically

This intelligence is most often associated

with scientific and mathematical thinking.
Famous examples: Albert Einstein, John Dewey.
 Linguistic Intelligence
• involves having a mastery of
language
• This intelligence includes the
ability to effectively manipulate
language to express oneself
rhetorically or poetically.
• It also allows one to use language
as a means to remember information.
Famous examples: Charles Dickens, Abraham Lincoln, T.S. Eliot, Sir
Winston Churchill.
 Spatial Intelligence
• gives one the ability to
manipulate and create mental
images in order to solve
problems.
• This intelligence is not limited
to visual domains--Gardner
notes that spatial intelligence is
also formed in blind children.
Famous examples: Picasso, Frank Lloyd Wright
 Musical Intelligence
• encompasses the capability to recognize and
compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms.

(Auditory functions are required for a person to

develop this intelligence in relation to pitch
and tone, but these functions would not be
needed for the knowledge of rhythm.)
Famous examples: Mozart, Leonard Bernstein, Ray Charles.
 Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
• is the ability to use one's mental abilities to coordinate one's
own bodily movements.
• This intelligence challenges the popular belief that mental and
physical activity are unrelated.
• The ability to use your body skillfully to solve problems, create
products or present ideas and emotions.
• An ability obviously displayed for athletic pursuits, dancing,
acting, artistically, or in building and construction.
• You can include surgeons in this category but many people who
are physically talented–"good with their hands"–don't recognize
that this form of intelligence is of equal value to the other
intelligences.

Famous examples: Charlie Chaplin, Michael Jordan.

 Interpersonal Intelligence
• The ability to work effectively with others
• to relate to other people
• display empathy and understanding
• notice their motivations and goals.

This is a vital human intelligence displayed by good

teachers, facilitators, therapists, politicians,
religious leaders and sales people.
Famous examples: Gandhi, Ronald Reagan, Mother Teresa, Oprah Winfrey.
 Intrapersonal Intelligence
The ability for self-analysis and reflection–to be able to:
• quietly contemplate and assess one's accomplishments
• review one's behavior and innermost feelings
• make plans and set goals
• know oneself

Philosophers, counselors, and many peak performers in all fields

of endeavor have this form of intelligence.

Famous examples: Freud, Eleanor Roosevelt, Plato.

 Naturalist intelligence
designates the human ability to discriminate
among living things (plants, animals) as
well as sensitivity to other features of the
natural world (clouds, rock configurations).
to make distinctions in the natural world and to use this ability
productively–for example in hunting, farming, or biological science.

Farmers, botanists, conservationists,

biologists, environmentalists would all
display aspects of the intelligence.
Famous examples: Charles Darwin, Rachel Carson.
 Can we be more than one?
Yes!
• Although the intelligences are anatomically separated from each other, Gardner
claims that the eight intelligences very rarely operate independently.
• Rather, the intelligences are used concurrently and typically
complement each other as individuals develop skills or solve
problems.

For example, a dancer can excel in his art only if he/she has 
• strong musical intelligence to understand the rhythm and variations of the
music 
• bodily-kinesthetic intelligence to provide him with the agility and
coordination to complete the movements successfully
• interpersonal intelligence to understand how he can inspire or emotionally
move his audience through his movements
 Jean Piaget - 1896-1980
The behavior of children and the development of their thinking can only be
explained by the interaction of nature (intrinsic development) and nurture (extrinsic
environmental factors).
Goal of cognitive development
– Biological survival
Cognitive development as biological adaptation
– Adaptation of mental constructs from experiences
– Learner as ‘the little scientist’
Knowledge originates from the environment
– Assimilation + accommodation lead to equilibrium
– Cognitive development involves active selection, interpretation, and
construction of knowledge

Key words
Cognitive learning theory; assimilate; symbolism; accommodate; egocentric;
decentre; conservatism; active learners; schemata; sensory-motor; stages; pre-
operational; animism; moral realism; concrete operations; formal operations
Cognitive Development Theory
Two processes are essential for development:
– Assimilation
» Learning to understand events or objects,
based on existing structure.
– Accommodation
» Expanding understanding, based on new
information.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

 Piaget
Children pass through specific stages as they develop their Cognitive Development
skills:
• Sensorimotor – birth - 2 years – infants develop their intellect
• Preoperational – 2-7 years – children begin to think symbolically and imaginatively
• Concrete operational – 7-12 years – children learn to think logically
• Formal operational – 12 years – adulthood – adults develop critical thinking skills
 Maslow’s Theory

Maslow’s theory maintains that a

person does not feel a higher need
until the needs of the current level
have been satisfied. Maslow's basic
needs are as follows:
 Basic Human Needs
• Food
• Air
• Water
• Clothing
• Sex
Physiological Needs
 Safety and Security
• Protection
• Stability
• Pain Avoidance

Safety Needs • Routine/Order

 Love and Belonging
• Affection
• Acceptance
Social Needs • Inclusion
 Esteem
Esteem Needs • Self-Respect
• Self-Esteem
• Respected by
Others
Self-Actualization

• Achieve full
potential
• Fulfillment