Chapter 1: Theories

An interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain and make predictions

- Freud's and Erik Erikson's - Described development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. - understanding of development requires analyzing the symbolic meanings of behavior and the deep inner workings of the mind - Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic workings of the mind have to be analyzed to understand behavior. - Early experiences with parents are emphasized. - Stage

- one of the Psychoanalytic - Psychosexual - problems occur b/c of early experiences - stage theory (five) - focus of pleasure and sexual impulses shifts from the mouth to the anus and eventually to the genitals - adult personality = how we resolve conflicts at each stage - limit: overemphasized sexual instincts - now: place more emphasis on cultural experiences, thought plays greater role than Freud thought - emphasized early experience primary motivation = sexual in nature

- Psychoanalytic - Psychosocial - reformed Freud > not sexual but social - emphasized early and later experiences - primary motivation = social and desire to affiliate with others - unique developmental task = individuals have crisis that has to be resolved (more successfully it is resolved, the healthier development is) - eight stages crisis that must be resolved (initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, intimacy vs. isolation) - contributions = emphasis on a developmental framework, family relationships, unconscious - Criticism = lack of scientific support, too much emphasis on sex underpinnings, too much credit given to unconscious, and negative image of children

- Piaget's and Vygotsky's and Information-Processing - Emphasize conscious thoughts / they would not predict outcomes as much as psychoanalytic - Contributions of cognitive: positive view of development emphasis on active construction of understanding - Criticisms: skepticism about the pureness of Piaget's stages and assertions that too little attention is paid to individual variations

- cognitive theories - focused on conscious thought - Children actively construct their understanding of the world - organization and adaptation, - we organize our experiences, in understanding the world - 4 Stages (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational) - Age-related, distinct way of thinking

- cognitive theory - Sociocultural cognitive theory - Children actively construct their knowledge - social interaction and culture more important than Piaget, S. I. and culture guide cognitive development and inseparable from them. - Knowledge is situated and collaborative - not generated from within the individual, is constructed through interaction with other people and objects in the culture (books) - can best be advanced through interaction with others in cooperative activities

- cognitive - Emphasizes that individual manipulate, monitor, and strategize information - NOT STAGELIKE - individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity for processing information, which allows them to acquire increasingly complex knowledge and skills (memory, continuous view)

- Pavlov, Skinner, and Bandura - Foundations of behaviorism, we can study scientifically only what can be directly observed and measured behaviorism: •CONTINUOUS development (no stages) •ABC: Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence; takes into account context in influencing behavior •you can study scientifically only what can be directly observed and measured. •development is observable behavior that can be learned through experience with the environment •emphasize continuity in development and argue that development does not occur in stages. Contributions: emphasis on scientific research and environmental determinants of behavior Criticisms too little emphasis on cognition in skinner's view giving inadequate attention to developmental changes and biological foundations

- Classical Conditioning - Learn through association (dogs) - a neutral stimulus(hearing bell) acquires the ability to produce a response originally produced by another stimulus (eating food)

- Operant Conditioning - Learn through consequences of behavior (box air crib) - the consequences of a behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior's occurrence - a behavior with a reward = more likely to recur - a behavior with a punishment = less likely to recur - argues shy people learned to be shy because of experiences they had while growing up - key aspect of development = behavior, not thoughts and feelings

- Social Cognitive Theory - Behavior, environment, and cognition are key factors in development (observational learning) - emphasizes that cognitive processes have important links with the environment and behavior - observational learning learning that occurs through observing what others do people cognitively represent the behavior of others and then sometimes adopt this behavior themselves - Most recent model: behavior person/cognition environment

- Lorenz and Bowlby - emphasizes influence of biology, critical/sensitive periods, and evolution on behavior - stresses that behavior: is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, is characterized by critical or sensitive periods - Might overemphasize biological foundations - Might have too rigid of an idea of the boundaries of the critical windows of development

- Ethological - Identified imprinting - as the rapid, innate learning within a limited critical period of time that involves attachment to the first moving object seen

- Ethological - Argued that attachment to a caregiver during the first year of life has important consequences throughout the life span (1st year is sensitive - attachment is positive and secure)

- Bronfenbrenner's - Now called bioecological since he recently added biological influences - An environmental systems theory that focuses on five environmental systems: 1. microsystems (setting where they live) 2. mesosystems (relations b/t family and school and church experiences) 3. exosystem (links b/t a social setting in which the individual does not have an active role and the individual's immediate context) 4. macrosystem (the culture), 5. chronosystem (patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course) Pros: Systematically examines macro/micro dimensions of environmental systems Notices connections between environmental systems Emphasizes multiple social contexts outside of the family, like neighborhood, religious, school and workplace Cons: Doesn't pay enough attention to biological or cognitive influences (Basically all the criticisms of each theory are that they underemphasize the factors that the theory isn't named for)

Freud's bio. Determinism interacting w/ early family experiences Erikson's more balanced bio./cultural interaction perspective

Early experiences in the family very important influences

Emphasis on discontinuity b/t stages

Piaget's emphasis on interaction & adaptation, environment provides the setting for cognitive structure to develop Vygotsky's theory involves interaction of nature and nurture with strong emphasis on culture Info.processing has not addressed this issue extensively; many emphasizes biological/environment interaction

Childhood experiences important influences

Discontinuity b/t stages in Piaget's theory, NO STAGES in Vygotsky's theory or the info processing approach

Environment viewed as the main influence on development

Experiences important at all points in development

Continuity with NO STAGES

Strong bio view

Early experience very important, which can contribute to change early in development; after early critical or sensitive period has passed, stability likely to occur

Discontinuity b/c of early critical or sensitive period, NO STAGES

Strong environmental view

Experiences involving the 5 environmental systems important at all points in development

NO STAGES but little attention to the issue

o Eclectic theoretical orientation = that does not follow any one theoretical approach but rather selects from each theory whatever is considered its best aspects