College of Public and Community Service

University of Massachusetts at Boston

©2009 William Holmes

THEORIES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

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TYPES OF THEORIES

Psychological TheoriesSocial Cultural

TheoriesBehavioral TheoriesBiological TheoriesMulti-Level Theories

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PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES

Freudian/PsychoanalyticErikson/Crisis

DevelopmentalPiaget Cognitive

Development

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FREUDIAN THEORY

Structures of id, ego, superegoStruggle between id, ego, superegoFive stages—Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency,

Genital

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ERIKSON CRISES DEVELOPMENT

Crises Resolution and DevelopmentEpigenetic PrincipleEight Stages

1. Basic Trust vs. Mistrust2. Autonomy versus shame/dependence3. Initiative vs. self-guilt4. Industry vs. inferiority5. Identity vs. confusion/identity crisis6. Intimacy vs. isolation7. Generativity vs. stagnation8. Integrity vs. despair

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PIAGET COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Cognitive Functional Invariants—adaptation and organization

Adaptation involves accommodation and assimilation

Organization involves complex usageFour stages

1. Sensorimotor—infantile physicality2. Preoperational—initial symbols and language3. Concrete operational—reasoning about physical

objects4. Formal operational—abstract thinking

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SOCIAL CULTURAL THEORIES

Vygotsky social cognitive theory

Durkheim functional theoryKohlberg Moral

DevelopmentSymbolic Interaction

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VYGOTSKY CULTURAL THEORY

Elementary/biological processesPsychological/sociocultural processUses interaction, speech, and

internalizationProblem solving uses speech and

interaction

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DURKHEIM FUNCTIONAL THEORY

Growth of complexityGrowth of specializationDifferentiation of social status and

rolesShift from informal to formal

relations

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SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

Socially constructed stagesLabeling of stagesUse of “looking-glass self”Subject to trends, fads, and

fashions

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BEHAVIORAL THEORIES

Skinner Operant Conditioning—reinforcers: rewards and punishments

Bandura Social Learning—modeling, observation, and imitation

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BIOLOGICAL THEORIES

Genetic InheritanceGenetic ExpressionGenetic FitnessGenetic Evolution

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MULTILEVEL THEORIES

Bronfenbrenner/Ecological Theory: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem

Developmental Systems Theory—interactive levels of development

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