Whataresomeofthemajortheoriesofchilddevelopment?

PsychosocialTheoryofHumanDevelopmentErikErikson

TheoryofCognitiveDevelopmentJeanPiaget

TheoryofBehaviorismB.F.Skinnerandothers

SocioculturalTheoryLevVygotsky

TheoryofMultipleIntelligencesHowardGardner

MotivationTheoryAbrahamMaslow

Whatarethemainideasofthesetheories?

PsychosocialTheoryofHumanDevelopmentErikErikson
Lifeisaseriesofstages.Eachindividualmustpassthrougheachstage.Thewayin
whichapersonhandleseachofthesestagesaffectsthepersonsidentityand
selfconcept.Thesepsychosocialstagesare:

Newborntrustvs.mistrust
ifthenewbornreceivecarefromthecaregiveris
reliableandpredictablethantheywilllearntotrustthembutiftheneedsarenotmetthen
itsmistrustbetweenthem

Toddlerautonomyvs.shameanddoubt
whenthetoddlerisbecomingmore
mobileandwhenthetimetheymessupcomestheywillcriticizethemselves

Preschoolchildinitiativevs.guilt
whenpreschoolchildreninteractmoreoftenwith
othersandmorelikelytotakedangerousriskandguiltwiththepreschoolersarewhenthe
childstartstointeractmoreslowlyandmayinterferewiththeircreativity

Schoolagechildindustryvs.inferiority
industryiswhentheyarelearningmoreof
writingandreadingthatwillbecomeamajorsourceofselfesteeminferiorityiswhen
theinitiativeisreinforcedandthechildstartstofeelindustriousandfeelmoreconfident
intheirabilitytoachievethings

Adolescentidentityvs.identityconfusion
identityiswhentheteenbecomesmore
independentandknowwhotheyarebutidentityconfusioniswhentheyareconfused
ontooftheirgoals

Youngadultintimacyvs.isolation
begintoshareourselvesmoreintimatelywith
others.Weexplorerelationshipsleadingtowardslongertermscommitmentswith
someoneotherthanafamilymember

Adultgenerativityvs.stagnation
establishourcareers,settledownwithina
relationship,beginourfamiliesanddevelopasenseofbeingpartofthebiggerpicture

Elderintegrityvs.despair
tendtoslowdownourproductivity,andexplorelifeasa
retiredperson.Itisduringthistimethatwecontemplateouraccomplishmentsandare
abletodevelopintegrityifweseeourselvesasleadingasuccessfullife

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

ChildrenpassthroughspecificstagesastheydeveloptheirCognitiveDevelopmentskills:

Sensorimotorbirth2yearsinfantsdeveloptheirintellect
duringthisinitialphaseofdevelopment,childrenexperiencetheworldandgain
knowledgethroughtheirsensesandmotormovements

Preoperational26yearschildrenbegintothinksymbolicallyandimaginatively
Duringthestage,childrenbegintoengageinsymbolicplayandlearntomanipulate
symbols

Concreteoperational612yearschildrenlearntothinklogically
childrenlearntothinklogicallycharacterizedbythedevelopmentoflogicalthought

Formaloperational12yearsadulthoodadultsdevelopcriticalthinkingskills
hypotheticalreasoning

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

Positiveandnegativereinforcement
tellthechildthegoodandbadthingstheyare
doing

Useofstimulusandresponse
causeandeffect

Modeling
showthemwhattheycando


Conditioning.
twostimuliarelinkedtogethertoproduceanewlearnedresponseina
personoranimal

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

Zoneofproximaldevelopment
isthedifferencebetweenwhatalearnercandowith
andwithouthelp

Scaffolding
seeingwhattheycanlearnbynotgivinganyhelp

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

Linguistic
language/words

Logicalmathematical
math

Spatial
learningthroughspace

Bodilykinesthetic
learningthroughyourbodyhandson

Intrapersonal
youoryourself

Interpersonal
relatingtootherpeople


Musical
learningthroughmusic

Naturalistic
learningthroughnature

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

Physiologicalneedsair,water,food,shelter,clothes,sex

Safetyandsecurity
protectionfromelements,security,order,law,stability,freedom
fromfear

Loveandsenseofbelonging
friendship,intimacy,affection,andlove,fromwork
group,family,friends,romanticrelationships

Selfesteemrespectbyothers
achievement,independence,selfrespect,respectfrom
others,howyoufeeluponyourself

Selfactualization.
realizingpersonalpotential,selffulfillment,seekingpersonal
growthandpeakexperiences