Child Development

Theories of Child Development

 Theories of Child Development
• Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
• Erikson’s Social
Social--Emotional
Theory
• Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive
Development
• Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development
• Fowler’s Stages of Faith
Psychosexual Theory (Freud)

• Oral (0
(0--18 months)
• Anal (18
(18--36 months)
• Phallic (3-
(3-6 years)
• Latency (6 years
years--puberty)
• Genital (Puberty and
beyond)
 Psychosexual Theory

Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months).

•During the oral stage, the child is focused on
oral pleasures (sucking).
•Too much or too little gratification can result in
an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is
evidenced by a preoccupation with oral
activities.
 Psychosexual Theory

Oral Stage (Birth to 18 months).

•This type of personality may have a stronger
tendency to smoke, drink alcohol, over eat, or
bite his or her nails.
•Personality wise, these individuals may
become overly dependent upon others, gullible,
and perpetual followers. On the other hand,
they may also fight these urges and develop
pessimism and aggression toward others.
 Psychosexual Theory
Anal Stage (18 months to three years)
•The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage is on
eliminating and retaining feces. Through
society’s pressure, mainly via parents, the child
has to learn to control anal stimulation.
•In terms of personality, consequences of an
anal fixation during this stage can result in an
obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and
control (anal retentive). On the opposite end of
the spectrum, they may become messy and
disorganized (anal expulsive).
 Psychosexual Theory
Phallic Stage (ages three to six).
•The pleasure zone switches to the genitals.
Freud believed that during this stage boy
develop unconscious sexual desires for their
mother. Because of this, he becomes rivals
with his father and sees him as competition for
the mother’s affection.
 Psychosexual Theory

During this time, boys also develop a fear that

their father will punish them for these feelings,
such as by castrating them. This group of
feelings is known as Oedipus Complex.
Later it was added that girls go through a similar
situation, developing unconscious sexual
attraction to their father. Although Freud strongly
disagreed with this, it has been termed the
Electra Complex by more recent
psychoanalysts.
 Psychosexual Theory

Latency Stage (age six to puberty).

•It’s during this stage that sexual urges
remain repressed and children interact
and play mostly with same sex peers
 Psychosexual Theory

Genital Stage (puberty and beyond)

The final stage of psychosexual development
begins at the start of puberty when sexual
urges are once again awakened. Through the
lessons learned during the previous stages,
adolescents direct their sexual urges onto
opposite sex peers, with the primary focus of
pleasure is the genitals.
 Erikson’s Social-
Social-Emotional
Theory

Age Psychosocial Crisis

0-1, Infant Trust vs. Mistrust

2-3, Toddler Autonomy vs. Shame
3-6, Preschooler Initiative vs. Guilt
7-12, School Age child Industry vs. Inferiority
Piaget’s Cognitive Development

Sensory-Motor Stage (birth

Sensory- (birth--2)
Preoperational Stage (2-
(2-7)
Concrete Operations (7-
(7-11)
Formal Operations (11-
(11-15)
 Sensory-Motor Stage
Sensory-
(birth to 2 years)

• object permanence: The concept that

things continue to exist even when they
are out of sight.
• mental representations: Mental images
or symbols (such as words) used to think
about or remember an object, a person,
or an event.
 Preoperational Stage
(2 to 7 years)

• A child becomes able to use mental

representations and language to
describe, remember, and reason about
the world.
• egocentric: Unable to see things from
another person’s point of view.
Concrete-Operational Stage
Concrete-
(7 to 11 years)

• A child can attend to more than one thing

at a time and understand someone
else’s point of view, though thinking is
limited to concrete matters.
• A child can understand conservation
conservation..
Principles of Conservation

• The concept that basic amounts

remain constant despite
superficial changes in
appearances.
Formal-Operational Stage
Formal-
(11 to 15 years)

• The individual becomes capable

of abstract thought.
Piaget’s Cognitive Development
 Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development

• preconventional: Interpreting behavior in

terms of its concrete consequences.
• conventional: Interpreting behavior in
terms of social (and societal) approval.
• postconventional: Emphasis on abstract
principles (e.g., justice, liberty, and
equality).
 Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development
• Punishment
• Reciprocity
• Good Girl – Good Boy
• Law and Order
 Fowler’s Stages of Faith

• Faith: a process of relating to what is

important in life
• Intuitive
Intuitive--Projective (3-
(3-7):
7):
psyche's unprotected exposure to the
Unconscious. Imagination runs wild in this
stage, uninhibited by logic
• Mythic
Mythic--Literal (School Years):
Years):
symbol and ritual begin to be integrated
by the child
 Fowler’s Stages of Faith

• Synthetic-
Synthetic-Conventional (Adolescences)
(Adolescences)::
this stage demands a complex pattern of
socialization and integration, and faith is an
inseparable factor in the ordering of one's
world. It is a stage characterized by
conformity
• Individuative
Individuative--Reflective (Young Adult):
Adult):
beliefs and values are critically evaluated