Views of Human Development

By: Jocelyn B. Camero

Views of Human Development

these paradigms of human development, while

obviously lacking in scholastic rigor, provide us with
a conceptual framework for understanding ourselves
and others.
discuss several aspects of human development

Darwin's Theory of Evolution

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) believed that young untrained
infants share many characteristics with their nonhuman
ancestors and that observing child development might
provide insights into the evolutionary history of the human
species.
Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory

Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) viewed intelligence as a process
that helps an organism adapt to its environment and
proposed four major periods of cognitive development.
Behaviourism
John B. Watson believed that conclusions about human
development and functioning should be based on
observations of overt behavior rather than on speculations
about unconscious motives or cognitive processes that
remain unobservable.
Skinner's Operant Conditioning Theory
B. F. Skinner believed that the essence of human
development is the continual acquisition of new habits of
behaviour and that these learned behaviors are controlled
by external stimuli (reinforcers and punishers)
Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory
Albert Bandura claimed that humans are cognitive beings
whose active processing of information from the
environment plays a major role in learning and human
development.
Vygotsky's Cognitive Theory
Lev Vygotsky insisted that children's minds are shaped by
the particular social and historical context in which they
live and by their interactions with adults.
Information Processing Theory

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) challenged prevailing notions

of human nature and human development by proposing
that we are driven by motives and emotions on which we The information processing approach to human
development emphasizes the fundamental mental
are largely unaware and that we are shaped by our
processes involved in attention, perception, memory, and
earliest experiences in life.
decision-making by using a computer analogy.
Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development
Biobehavioral Theories
Erik Erikson (1902- ) revised Freud's theory by placing
more emphasis on social influences, emphasizing the ego, These theories look to investigate the extent to which
genetic and environmental differences among people or
expressing a more positive view of human nature, and
animals are responsible for differences in their traits.
applying the theory across the entire life span.

Bowlby's Attachment Theory

Cross-Cultural Theories
John Bowlby believed that many infant behaviors that
This perspective looks to find the typical rather than the
promote emotional attachments have evolved because
they make it more likely that the infant will be cared for by unique and look for the underlying similarities among
cultures in order to define universal occurrences.
adults and will therefore survive.
Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory of Development
Urie Bronfenbrenner emphasized that the developing
person is embedded in a series of environmental systems
that interact with one another and with the individual to
influence development.
Contextual Theories
These perspectives hold that development arises from the
ongoing interrelationships between the changing organism
and a changing world. Changes in the person produce
changes in his or her environment, changes in the
environment produce changes in the person, and this
interchange goes on continuously.
Risk and Resiliency Theories
These theories investigate the survival of individuals
(resiliency) that are faced with adversity (risk).
Socialization Across Culture
An exchange with another culture may lead up to
psychological growth and a better understanding of who
we are, what we value, and where we might want to go.

an exchange with persons from other cultures can

cause psychological disturbance, it, at the same
time, offers a vehicle for personal growth.

cross-culture encounter and the anxiety

accompanying the process are regarded as the
functional elements that get individuals prepared to
achieve self-transcendence and self-renewal.

Several cross-cultural adaptational models have been

developed to address various psychological stages
an individual undergoes when immersed in a
different culture over a long period of time.

Bennetts Developmental Model of Intercultural

Sensitivity (DMLS)

seeks to explain process of how people make sense of

cultural differences, and to "diagnose stages of
development for individuals or groups (Bennett,
1993: 24)

The central concepts in the DMIS theory are

ethnocentrism and ethnorelativism. Bennett (1993)
defines ethnocentrism as the assumption "that the
worldview of one's own culture is central to all
reality" , and ethnorelativism as the understanding
that cultures are relative to one another within a
cultural context

The model presents six stages that fall into one of

those two domains. Three of these stages are
identified as ethnocentric Denial, Defense, and
Minimization, and three others Acceptance,
Adaptation, and Integration are categorized as
ethnorelative.

the graphic illustrates the main change along the line

of intercultural competence occurs from
ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism. In other words, from
an understanding of your own culture as being
superior to an understanding of your own culture as
equal in value and complexity to any other culture.

Cross Cultural Theory: Developmental Model of

Intercultural Sensitivity

Denial: When in this first stage, individuals

refuse all interaction with other cultures and
show no interest in discovering cultural
differences. They may also act agressively
during cross cultural situations.

Defense: In this stage, individuals consider all other

cultures to be inferior to their own culture and will
constantly criticise behaviour or thoughts by someone
from another culture.

Minimization: When this stage is reached, individuals

will start believing that all cultures share commom
values. They will also minise any cultural dfferences
by correcting people to match their expectations.

Acceptance: At this stage, individuals may still judge

other cultures negatively but they will tend to
recognise that cultures are different and they may
become curious about cultural differences

Adaptation: During this stage individuals gain the

ability to adapt their behaviour more easily and
effectively by intentionally changing their own
behaviour or communication style.

Integration: This stage tends to only be achieved by

long term expatriates living and working abroad or
Global Nomads. In this stage, individuals instinctively
change their behaviour and communication style
when interacting with other cultures.