Theories of Human Development

Theories of Human Development

​Icebreaker?

Dessert swap. Share a favorite sweet treat from your culture. Once everyone has shared, we will share who we would swap desserts with.

​Theory

A theory guides and helps us interpret research finding. It provides the researcher with a blueprint or model to be used to help piece together various studies.
Stage Theories

• Freud's Psychosexual Theory of Development

• Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Development

• Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

• Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Continous Theories

• Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

• Bandura's Social Learning Theory

• Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory

Stage vs. Continuous Theories

Stage Theories: assume that developmental change often occurs in distinct stages that are qualitatively different from each other, and in a set, universal sequence.
Continuous Theories: assume development is more slow and dradual process. For instance, they would see the adult as not possessing new skills, but more advanced skills that were already present in some form in the child.

Fill in the Blank

Which represents continuous development? (a:left or b:right)

Stage Theories of Development

Freud's Psychosexual Theory

Freud's Psychosexual Theory of Development

• Freud emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping our personality and behavior. 

• 5 Stages

  • Oral Stage

  • Anal Stage

  • Phallic Stage

  • Latent Stage

  • Genital Stage

​​These stages, if not resolved successfully, can lead to fixation and later psychological problems.

• Example: Oral fixations

• https://www.verywellmind.com/freuds-stages-of-psychosexual-development-2795962

Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Development

• Erikson emphasized that the ego makes positive contributions to development by mastering attitudes, ideas, and skills at each stage of development.

• This mastery helps children grow into successful, contributing members of society. During each of Erikson’s eight stages, there is a psychological conflict that must be successfully overcome in order for a child to develop into a healthy, well-adjusted adult. 

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYCBdZLCDBQ

Open Ended

Brenda is a 5th-year undergraduate student. She began her post-secondary education as a nursing major at a private college, but decided she wanted to pursue a career in special education, so she transferred to a state university with a large education program. After a year, she discovered that special education was not for her, so she transferred back to the college where she had first enrolled and registered for courses in the psychology major sequence. She is now a liberal studies major and will graduate in May. Brenda has thought about applying to law schools, but recently decided she really didn't want a career in law. At this point she has no firm career plans. Rather, she had decided to work as a waitress for at least a year, and after that, who knows?

Open Ended

Eric's kindergarten teacher is very concerned about him. He is hesitant to get involved in group activities, and though he seems bright verbally, he tells his teacher he "can't" do the work and will not start assignments unless the teacher is there to help and reassure him. Additionally, he always waits for the teacher to help him put on his coat and boots, even though she has encouraged him to do so himself.

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

• Piaget was one of the first to recognize and describe the ways  children's intelligence differs from that of adults (Piaget, 1929).

• Piaget believed that we are continuously trying to maintain cognitive equilibrium, or a balance, in what we see and what we know (Piaget, 1954).

• New information is organized into a framework or schema.

• Children develop schemas through the process of assimilation and accommodation.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhcgYgx7aAA

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2spOA-H6JEY

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

https://www.purposegames.com/game/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-game

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

• Lawrence Kohlberg (1963) built on the work of Piaget and was interested in finding out how our moral reasoning changes as we get older. 

• Heinz Dilemma

  • In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town had recently discovered. The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He paid $200 for the radium and charged $2,000 for a small dose of the drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about $1,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: “No, I discovered the drug and I'm going to make money from it.” So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man's store to steal the drug for his wife. Should the husband have done that?

Open Ended

Should the husband have done that?

Open Ended

How would you have responded to this question when you were seven years old? What stage of moral development would you categorize your response in?