Psychology 217: lifespan

development
THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Theories of Human Development

Developmental theory

Ideas proposed to describe/explain

phenomena
Provides means to organize, interpret,

explain facts or observations

Guides collection of new data

Key Developmental Issues

1. Goodness-badness of human nature
Evidence of biologically-based tendencies for

good and bad

2. Nature-nurture issue
Biological forces or environmental forces
3. Activity-passivity issue
Are humans active agents in their own

development or passively shaped by forces

beyond their control?

Key Developmental Issues, continued

4. Continuity-discontinuity issue
Are changes over the lifespan gradual or abrupt

(like stair steps)?

Are changes quantitative (a matter of degree) or
qualitative (changes in kind)?
5. Universality-context-specificity issue
Are developmental changes common to all

humans or different across cultures, subcultures,

contexts, and individuals?

Freud

Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality

Central notion: humans have instincts that

motivate behavior
Unconscious motivation

Humans possess psychic energy that is divided

among 3 components of the personality:

Id impulsive, selfish part of personality
Ego rational aspect that seeks to gratify instincts
Superego internalized moral standards

Freuds Theory of Psychosexual Development

As a child biologically matures, libido seeks to

gratify different biological needs

Libido psychic energy of the sex instinct

Child moves through 5 developmental stages

Freudian Stages

Concepts in Freuds Theory of Psychosexual

Development
Fixation arrested development; libido is tied to an

earlier stage of development

Oedipus complex a young boy loves his mother &

fears his father will retaliate by castrating him

Resolves this conflict by identification internalizing the

attitudes & behaviors of the other person

Electra complex a young girl desires her father,

views her mother as a rival

Resolves the conflict by identifying with her mother

Concepts in Freuds Theory Defense

Mechanisms
Defense mechanisms unconscious coping

devices that the ego adopts to defend itself against

anxiety
- Repression
- Regression
- Projection
- Reaction formation

Strengths and Weaknesses of Freuds Theory

Weaknesses
Theory said to be ambiguous, internally
inconsistent, not testable, and therefore not
falsifiable

Strengths
Many insights have held up and been influential

Called attention to unconscious processes

Emphasized importance of early experience

Emphasized importance of emotions and

emotional conflicts

Erikson

Erik Erikson
Most influential neo-Freudian

Major differences with Freud:

- Less emphasis on sexual urges
- Primary motive for human behavior is social;

desire to affiliate with others

- More emphasis on rational ego
- More positive, adaptive view of human nature

- Development continues through adulthood

Premise of Eriksons Stages

A unique development task confronts the individual at each
stage and this crisis must be resolved
Developmental Crisis

Eriksons Stages: Approximate Ages

1. Trust vs. mistrust: infancy

2. Autonomy vs. shame and doubt:

3.

4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

toddlerhood
Initiative vs. guilt: preschool
Industry vs. inferiority: school-age childhood
Identity vs. role confusion: adolescence
Intimacy vs. isolation: young adulthood
Generativity vs. stagnation: middle age
Integrity vs. despair: late life

Eriksons Lifespan Stages

Strengths and Weaknesses of Eriksons

Psychosocial Theory
Strengths
Emphasis on rational & adaptive nature
Emphasis on interaction of biological & social

influences
Influenced research into adolescence &
adulthood
Weaknesses
Sometimes vague & difficult to test
Describes human personality development but

does not explain how development occurs

What is a stage theory?

Learning Theories: Classical Conditioning

Behaviorism: conclusions should be based

only upon observable behavior

Principles of classical conditioning and

learning by association
- UCS: automatic, unlearned stimulus
- UCR: automatic, unlearned response
- CS: learned stimulus

- CR: learned response

Learning theories:
Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning
Social Cognitive Theory

B.F. Skinner (1904 1990)

The 3 phases of classical conditioning

Learning Theories: Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning: the consequences of a

behavior produce changes in the probability of

the behaviors occurrence
Key aspect of development = behavior
Rewards and punishments shape development

Learning Theories: Operant Conditioning

Reinforcement occurs when a consequence

strengthens a response or makes it more

likely to occur
2 forms of reinforcement
1. Positive something pleasant or desirable

is added
2. Negative something unpleasant or

undesirable is removed, escaped, or

avoided

Learning Theories: Operant Conditioning

Punishment decreases the strength of a

behavior or weakens it
2 forms of punishment
1. Positive occurs when an unpleasant

stimulus is applied or added to the situation

following the behavior
2. Negative occurs when a desirable

stimulus is removed following the behavior

Possible Consequences of Behavior

Learning Theories: Operant Conditioning

Spanking: A Form of Punishment
Best to use more positive approaches before

resorting to spanking, but . . .

Spanking can have short-term effect if it:
Is administered immediately after the act
Is administered consistently
Is not overly harsh
Is accompanied by explanation
Is administered by an otherwise affectionate
person
- Is used sparingly & combined with efforts to
reinforce desirable behavior
-

Albert Bandura (1904 1990)

Banduras Social-Cognitive Theory

Social Cognitive Theory: belief that behavior,
environment and cognition are the key factors in
development
Observational learning is primary focus
Modeling / Imitation

Banduras Social-Cognitive Theory

Observational learning
- Accomplished by observing the behavior of

others (models)
- Learners pay attention, construct & remember
mental representations, retrieve the
representations from memory, & use them to
guide behavior
Famous Bobo doll study
http://vimeo.com/17600886
Includes the processes of latent learning &

vicarious reinforcement

Banduras Social-Cognitive Theory

Additional aspects of social-cognitive theory
- Human agency: ways in which people

deliberately exercise cognitive control

- Self-efficacy: a high or low sense that one can

effectively produce desired outcomes in a

particular activity
- Reciprocal determinism: mutual influences

among the person, the persons behavior, & the

environment

Banduras Reciprocal Determinism

Learning Theories: Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths
- Theories are precise & testable
- Can test via carefully controlled experiments
- Principles apply across the lifespan
- Practical applications are possible

Weaknesses
- Inadequate accounts of developmental changes
- Too little consideration of genetic & maturational

processes

Piaget

Concepts in Piagets Theory of Cognitive

Development
Intelligence: process that helps a person adapt

to the environment
Constructivism: children construct new

understandings of the world based on their

experiences
Interaction between biological maturation and

experiences is responsible for childrens

developmental progress from one stage to the
next, qualitatively different, stage

Piagets Stages of Cognitive Development

Stages of Piagets Theory of Cognitive

Development
1. Sensorimotor stage
Infants deal with the world through their

senses and their motor skills

Stages of Piagets Theory of Cognitive

Development
2. Properational stage
Preschoolers can use symbolic thought but

cannot yet use logical problem-solving

Cannot demonstrate conservation

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_i
d=55837&title=Piaget_Conservation_Tasks

Stages of Piagets Theory of Cognitive

Development
3. Concrete operations stage
School-age children are more logical & can

use trial-and-error approach to problemsolving

Stages of Piagets Theory of Cognitive

Development
4. Formal operations stage
Adolescents are able to think abstractly and

hypothetically

Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development:

Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths
- Well-accepted by developmentalists
- Well-researched, mostly supported
- Influenced education & parenting

Weaknesses
- Too little consideration of influences of motivation &
-

emotion upon thought processes

Questionable that the stages constitute a coherent,
general mode of thinking
Perhaps underestimated cognitive abilities of young
children
Too little emphasis upon parents & caregivers
Stages may not be universal

Challenges to Piagets Theory of Cognitive

Development
1. Vygotskys Sociocultural Perspective
View that cognitive development is shaped by

its sociocultural context & childrens

interactions with members of their culture
2. Information-processing approach
Examines fundamental processes of attention,

memory, decision-making, etc.

Information-Processing Theory
culture

literature

science

INPUT

history

religion

math

OUTPUT

Systems Theories
Systems theories attribute changes over the

lifespan to ongoing, reciprocal transactions

between a changing organism & a changing
environment
Bronfenbrenners bioecological model

Gottliebs epigenetic psychobiological

systems perspective

Gottliebs Epigenetic Psychobiological

Systems Perspective
Development is the product of interacting

biological & environmental influences that form

a larger system
Evolution endowed humans with genetic
makeup
Genes & environment interact because
humans actively change their environments
- Occurs at the species level
- Biological & cultural evolution contribute to

change over time in the human species

Gottlieb: Epigenesis
Epigenesis: over and above genes

- Nature and nurture, genes and environment,

co-act to yield developmental outcomes

Epigenetic process
- Activity of genes
- Activity of neurons
- Organisms behavior

- Environmental influences

Strengths and Weaknesses of Systems

Theories of Development
Strengths
- Call attention to ongoing transactions

between the individual & the environment

Weaknesses
- Only partially formulated and tested
- No coherent developmental theory

Evolutionary and Ethological Theory

Evolutionary theory stresses that behavior is

strongly influenced by biology, is tied to

evolution, and is characterized by critical or
sensitive periods
Darwin inspired the field of ethology
- Study of evolved behavior of species in their

natural environments
- Ethologists suggest that human behaviors are
the products of evolution & help humans adapt
to their environment

Konrad Lorenz (1903 1989)

Imprinting: rapid, innate learning that involves attachment to the

first moving object seen
Critical Period

John Bowlby (1904 1990)

Sensitive Period: attachment should occur in infancy in

order to promote optimal development of social
relationships

Ethological Theory Criticisms

Too much emphasis on biological foundations
Belief that the critical and sensitive period concepts might

be too rigid

Categories of Human Development

Theories
Freud, Erikson, and Piaget
- Stage theorists
- Development guided in universal directions by

biological-maturational forces
- Parents are supporters of development
Watson, Skinner, and Bandura
- Learning theorists

- Emphasize environment more than biology

- Parents are their childrens trainers

Categories of Human Development

Theories
Systems and contextual theorists:

Bronfenbrenner, Vygotsky, Gottleib

- View biology and environment as inseparable

components of a larger system

- Humans are active contributors to development,
but environment also is an active participant.
- Parents view themselves as partners with their
children in the development process

Think about this

Which theory best explains your
development? Is one theory more
applicable than another?