Whataresomeofthemajortheoriesofchilddevelopment?

PsychosocialTheoryofHumanDevelopmentErikErikson

TheoryofCognitiveDevelopmentJeanPiaget

TheoryofBehaviorismB.F.Skinnerandothers

SocioculturalTheoryLevVygotsky

TheoryofMultipleIntelligencesHowardGardner

MotivationTheoryAbrahamMaslow

Whatarethemainideasofthesetheories?

PsychosocialTheoryofHumanDevelopmentErikErikson
Lifeisaseriesofstages.Eachindividualmustpassthrougheachstage.Thewayin
whichapersonhandleseachofthesestagesaffectsthepersonsidentityand
selfconcept.Thesepsychosocialstagesare:

Newborntrustvs.mistrust

Duringthisstagetheinfantisuncertainabouttheworldinwhichtheylive.Toresolve
thesefeelingsofuncertaintytheinfantlookstowardstheirprimarycaregiverforstability
andconsistencyofcare.

Toddlerautonomyvs.shameanddoubt
Thechildislearninghowtoputonclothes,shoesandputonclothes

Preschoolchildinitiativevs.guilt
Duringthisperiodtheprimaryfeatureinvolvesthechildregularlyinteractingwithother
childrenatschool.Centraltothisstageisplay,asitprovideschildrenwiththe
opportunitytoexploretheirinterpersonalskillsthroughinitiatingactivities.

Schoolagechildindustryvs.inferiority
theywillbelearningtoreadandwrite,todosums,todothingsontheirown.Teachers
begintotakeanimportantroleinthechildslifeastheyteachthechildspecificskills.

Adolescentidentityvs.identityconfusion

Duringadolescence(age12to18yrs),thetransitionfromchildhoodtoadulthoodismost
important.Childrenarebecomingmoreindependent,andbegintolookatthefuturein
termsofcareer,relationships,families,housing,etc.Theindividualwantstobelongtoa
societyandfitin

Youngadultintimacyvs.isolation
begintoshareourselvesmoreintimatelywithothers.Weexplorerelationshipsleading
towardlongertermcommitmentswithsomeoneotherthanafamilymember.

Adultgenerativityvs.stagnation
establishourcareers,settledownwithinarelationship,beginourownfamiliesand
developasenseofbeingapartofthebiggerpicture.

Elderintegrityvs.despair

tendtoslowdownourproductivity,andexplorelifeasaretiredperson.Itisduringthis
timethatwecontemplateouraccomplishmentsandareabletodevelopintegrityifwe
seeourselvesasleadingasuccessfullife.

TheoryofCognitiveDevelopmentJeanPiaget
Thebehaviorofchildrenandthedevelopmentoftheirthinkingcanonlybe
explainedbytheinteractionofnature(intrinsicdevelopment)andnurture(extrinsic
environmentalfactors).

ChildrenpassthroughspecificstagesastheydeveloptheirCognitiveDevelopmentskills:

Sensorimotorbirth2yearsinfantsdeveloptheirintellect
Duringthisinitialphaseofdevelopment,childrenexperiencetheworldandgain
knowledgethroughtheirsensesandmotormovements.

Preoperational26yearschildrenbegintothinksymbolicallyandimaginatively
Duringthisstage,childrenbegintoengageinsymbolicplayandlearnto
manipulatesymbols

Concreteoperational612yearschildrenlearntothinklogically
characterizedbythedevelopmentoflogicalthought.

Formaloperational12yearsadulthoodadultsdevelopcriticalthinkingskills
hypotheticalreasoning
TheoryofBehaviorismB.F.Skinnerandothers
BasedonLockes
tabularasa
(cleanslate)idea,Skinnertheorizedthatachildis
anemptyorganismthatis,anemptyvesselwaitingtobefilledthrough
learningexperiences.Anybehaviorcanbechangedthroughtheuseofpositiveand
negativereinforcement.Behaviorismisbasedoncauseandeffectrelationships.
Majorelementsofbehaviorisminclude:

Positiveandnegativereinforcement
tellthechildthegoodandbadthingstheyaredoing

Useofstimulusandresponse
causeandeffect

Modeling
showthemwhattheycando

Conditioning.

twostimuliarelinkedtogethertoproduceanewlearnedresponseinapersonoranimal.

SocioculturalTheoryLevVygotsky
Theculturesinwhichchildrenareraisedandthewaysinwhichtheyinteractwith
peopleinfluencetheirintellectualdevelopment.Fromtheirculturalenvironments,
childrenlearnvalues,beliefs,skills,andtraditionsthattheywilleventuallypasson
totheirownchildren.Throughcooperativeplay,childrenlearntobehave
accordingtotherulesoftheircultures.Learningisanactiveprocess.Learningis
constructed.Elementsofsocioculturaltheoryare:

Zoneofproximaldevelopment

isthedifferencebetweenwhatalearnercandowithouthelpandwhatheorshe
candowithhelp.

Scaffolding

seeingwhattheycanlearnbytakinghelpaway

TheoryofMultipleIntelligencesHowardGardner
Intelligenceisviewedastheabilitytosolveproblemsandcreateproductsina
specificsituation.Manykindsofintelligencesexist.IQteststendtofocusononly
oneortwooftheseintelligences.Intelligencesmaybeexceptionallywelldeveloped
inindividualsdueeithertowelldevelopedpartsofthebrainortocultural
conditions.Theeightintelligencesthatarewidelyrecognizedare:

Linguistic
words

Logicalmathematical
math

Spatial
learnthroughspace

Bodilykinesthetic
learnthroughyourbodyhandson

Intrapersonal
yourself

Interpersonal
relatingtootherpeople

Musical
learningwithmusic

Naturalistic
learningwithnature

MotivationTheoryAbrahamMaslow

Peoplearemotivatedbyasetofbasichumanneedsthatmaybeorganizedinthe
formofahierarchy,orpyramid,withthemostcriticalneedsatthebottomofthe
hierarchy.Oncetheirmostcriticalneedsaremet,individualscanfocusonachieving
higherandloftierneedssuchaslove,respect,andselfactualization.Thebasic
needs,beginningwiththemostcritical,are:

Physiologicalneedsair,water,food,shelter,clothes,sex

Safetyandsecurity

Loveandsenseofbelonging

Selfesteemrespectbyothers

Selfactualization.