CD1

Introduction to theories of

development

September 13 2016

Minodora Grigorescu

Mothercraft College

Agenda

• Quiz

• Freud

• Erikson

• Piaget

• Vygotsky

If I had my child to raise over again

By Diane Loomans

If I had my child to raise over again,

I’d finger paint more, and point the finger less.

I’d do less correcting, and more connecting.

I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less, and know to care more.

I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.

I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.

I would run through more fields, and gaze at more stars.

I’d do more hugging, and less tugging.

I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.

I’d build self-esteem first, and the house later.

I’d teach less about the love of power,

And more about the power of love.

Theories and theorists

• Psychoanalytic – Freud

– Erikson

• Cognitive – Piaget

– Vygotsky

• Freud – Known for his proposal that personality has 3 structures

• Erikson – Known for the 8 stages during life span

• Piaget – Known for the 4 stages in children’s development

• Vygotsky – Known for the Zone of Proximal Development

Developmental theories

• Study changes in behaviour and abilities

that happen as development proceeds

• Have two basic goals: description (

identifying behaviour at each point

throughout the development continuum)

and explanation (determining causes and

processes that produce changes in

behaviour)

Example

When do babies begin to detect objects?

• Take into consideration: genetics, social

and physical environment, brain

characteristics, experiences.

Rapid development

• Takes place during the first part of life

• Involves: physical growth, social

interactions, language acquisition, memory

abilities, etc, covering all developmental

areas.

Long term influences

• Early experiences affect an individual’s

later development

• Self reflections

• Sharing thoughts

Sigmund Freud

• Born 6 May 1856

• Freiberg in Mähren, Moravia (now part

of the Czech Republic), Austrian

Empire

• Died 23 September 1939 (aged 83)

• London, England, UK

• Residence Austria, UK

• Nationality Austrian

• Fields Neurology

• Psychotherapy

• Psychoanalysis

• Institutions University of Vienna

Psychoanalytic - Freud

• Development primarily unconscious

• Early experiences with parents shape (and dictate) development

• Distinct stages – Follows “discontinuity” path

– Stages are defined by the seeking of pleasure (i.e., sexual in nature) and the avoidance of pain

– Oral – Anal – Phallic – Latency - Genital

Freud’s (1856-1939)

Psychosexual stages • Birth to 1.5 yrs. – Oral

Pleasure is associated with mouth- sucking

produces pleasure

• 1.5 – 3yrs. – Anal

Physical pleasure associated with bowel

movements and later from withholding

them

Freud proposed that personality has 3

structures: • ID no morality

• Ego “executive branch” of personality,

starting reasoning, still no morality

• Superego this is our “ conscience” and

developing moral reasoning, what is right

or wrong

• He concluded that children’s problems are

related to early experiences

Video

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn9zco

Cwtl0

Eric Erikson

• Born 15 June 1902

• Frankfurt am Main, Germany[1]

• Died 12 May 1994 (aged 91)

• Harwich, Cape Cod, Massachusetts[1]

• Citizenship American

• Fields developmental psychologist

• Institutions Harvard Medical

School

• Known for theory on social

development

• Influences Sigmund Freud, Anna

Freud

Theorists

• Erick Erikson ( 1902- 1994) and his

Psychosocial Theory

• Based on Freud’s theory

• His work continues to be of interest today

• He believed that we cannot understand

personality development without

considering the environment

Erikson

• Birth to 1.5 yrs- Basic Trust vs. Mistrust

Characteristics: infants must form trusting

relationships with caregivers. If care is

inadequate, mistrust develops instead.

Erikson

• 1.5- 3 yrs.- Autonomy vs. shame

Characteristics: as toddlers master

various skills- walking, toileting, self help

skills- begin to develop feelings of

autonomy and self- control. Failure to

meet expectations can lead to shame and

doubt.

Autonomy vs Shame/doubt

• What strategies can use when working

with toddlers to foster autonomy?

Jean Piaget

• Born 9 August 1896

• Neuchâtel, Switzerland

• Died 16 September 1980 (aged 84)

• Geneva, Switzerland

• Fields Developmental Psychology,

Epistemology

• Known for Constructivism,

Genetic epistemology, Theory of

cognitive development, Object

permanence, Egocentrism

Piaget ( 1896- 1980)

• His ideas remain largely accepted today

• Came up with the term

Genetic epistemology = studying

children’s knowledge and how it changes

with development ( interest in how children

think)

Piaget

• Developed his own research technique

Clinical method = semi structured interview

with questions designed to probe

children’s understanding of various

concepts

Sensorymotor stage

Cognition during infancy • Birth to 2 yrs.

• Clinical study on his 3 children

• Strengths: observations and longitudinal

study on the same child throughout

continuum

The six Substages

• Substage 1: Exercising reflexes ( birth to 1

month)

• Please review basic reflexes

• Assimilation of new information change

the behaviour in response to these new

experiences as they begin to

accommodate

Substage 2

• Developing schemes ( 1- 4 months)

• Reflexes to sensorymotor schemes =

cognitive structures of infancy

• Role of action in intelligence- very

important!

• Schemes undergo two sorts of

development during the second substage:

1.Individual schemes become progressively

refined

2.Coordination of initially independent

schemes ( coordination of hearing and

vision- involvement of sensory modes:

sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell)

Substage 3

• Discovering procedures ( 4 to 8 months)

The infant discovers procedures for

reproducing interesting events.

The infant is beginning to develop a kind of

knowledge- What he can do to produce

desirable outcomes, implied by the term

accidentally.

Substage 3

• Experience after the fact grasp of

causality, reproduction of “accidental”

outcome

• The infant cannot figure out in advance

how to produce interesting effects.

Substage 4

Intentional behaviour (8 to 12 months)

• The infant demonstrates the first genuinely

intentional behaviour

• Intentional behaviour involves the ability to

separate means and end ( the infant must

be able to use one scheme as a means to

lead to some other scheme, which then

becomes the goal) – Adler and Miller (

2009)

Substage 5

Novelty and exploration (12 to 18 months)

“the discovery of new means through active

exploration”

• Trial and error is a very active process

• The high chair experiment: the child drops

the spoon again and again- active

experimentation helps them to learn about

the world

Object permanence

• The child still has limitations but if he/she

can see the movement of the object will

handle it!

Substage 6 ( 18- 24 Months)

• Before this stage, adaptation played an

important role

• Gaining capabilities of mental

representation or symbolic functioning

emerges

• Mental problem solving begins to replace

overt trial and error

Object permanence

• If the movements are not visible- invisible

displacement ( as labelled by Piaget)

Lev Vygotsky

• Born November 17 [O.S. November 5]

1896 – June 11, 1934)

• was a Soviet psychologist, the founder

of cultural-historical psychology, and

the leader of the Vygotsky Circle.

• Known for ZPD, private speech,

psychology of play

• Criticized during his life time

Socio-Cultural Cognitive -

Vygotsky

• Culture and social interactions guide

development

• Cognitive skills mediated by language

– Language is a tool

• Cognitive skills have origins in social

relationships

– Understand children in social and cultural context

– Reading with a parent – reading skills and

importance of reading as social value

Table exercise

• Based on your knowledge, choose a

theorist from the agenda and explain

how you plan to use his theory when

working with infants or toddlers.

Children learn what they live

• If a child lives with criticism he learns to

condemn

• If a child lives with hostility he learns to

fight

• If a child lives with ridicule he learns to be

shy

• If a child lives with tolerance he learns to

be patient

Continue…

• If a child lives with encouragement he

learns confidence

• If a child lives with praise he learns to

appreciate

• If a child lives with fairness he learns

justice

• If a child lives with security he learns to

have faith

Continue…

• If a child lives with approval he learns to

like himself

• If a child lives with acceptance and

friendship he learns to find love in the

world

• If you believe in me, I will believe in you

• I am who I am meant to be. I am loved just

because I am me.