Psychoanalytic Theories: Freud and Erikson

• Developmental theories provide frameworks for understanding human growth, change, and consistency across the lifespan.
• Theories help organize observations and guide research.

Psychoanalytic Theories - Freud

• Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory posits that unconscious drives and motives underlie human behavior.
• Freud proposed a psychosexual theory where development occurs in stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital), each focused on a particular erogenous zone.
• Fixation at any stage could lead to specific personality traits in adulthood.
• The Oedipus complex (during the phallic stage) involves a child's unconscious desire for the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent.
• Freud's theory emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping personality.
• Key concepts include the id (primitive instincts), ego (the rational self), and superego (the moral conscience).

Psychoanalytic Theories - Erikson

• Erik Erikson expanded on Freud's ideas with his psychosocial theory, emphasizing social and cultural influences on development.
• Erikson proposed eight stages of development, each characterized by a specific psychosocial crisis.
• Stages span the entire lifespan, unlike Freud's theory, which focuses on childhood.
• Each stage presents a challenge or crisis that must be resolved for healthy development.
• Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust (infancy): Infants learn to trust caregivers if their needs are consistently met.
• Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (early childhood): Children strive for independence.
• Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt (preschool years): Children learn to initiate activities and assert themselves.
• Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority (school age): Children develop competence and a sense of achievement.
• Stage 5: Identity vs. Role Confusion (adolescence): Adolescents explore their identity and values.
• Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood): Young adults seek close relationships and connection.
• Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood): Adults contribute to society and support future generations.
• Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair (late adulthood): Older adults reflect on their lives and seek a sense of fulfillment.

Behaviorism - Classical Conditioning

• Behaviorism emphasizes the role of learning in shaping behavior.
• Classical conditioning, pioneered by Ivan Pavlov, involves learning through association.
• A neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus, eliciting a similar response.
• John B. Watson applied classical conditioning to human behavior, demonstrating that emotions could be learned through conditioning.
• Example: Pavlov's dog experiment, where a bell (neutral stimulus) was paired with food (meaningful stimulus) to elicit salivation (response).

Behaviorism - Operant Conditioning

• Operant conditioning, developed by B.F. Skinner, focuses on learning through consequences.
• Behaviors are strengthened by reinforcement and weakened by punishment.
• Positive reinforcement involves adding a desirable stimulus to increase a behavior.
• Negative reinforcement involves removing an undesirable stimulus to increase a behavior.
• Positive punishment involves adding an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior.
• Negative punishment involves removing a desirable stimulus to decrease a behavior.
• Example: Giving a child a treat for completing homework (positive reinforcement) or taking away screen time for misbehaving (negative punishment).

Social Learning Theory

• Social learning theory, proposed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes the role of observation and imitation in learning.
• People learn by observing others (models) and imitating their behavior, especially when the model is admired or successful.
• Observational learning involves attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation.
• Self-efficacy, the belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations, plays a crucial role in social learning.
• Example: A child learning to play a sport by watching and imitating a professional athlete.

Cognitive Theories - Piaget

• Jean Piaget's cognitive theory focuses on how thinking changes as people develop.
• Piaget proposed that children progress through four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.
• Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years): Infants learn through sensory experiences and motor actions.
• Preoperational stage (2-7 years): Children develop symbolic thinking and language but struggle with logic and perspective-taking.
• Concrete operational stage (7-11 years): Children develop logical thinking about concrete objects and events.
• Formal operational stage (11+ years): Adolescents develop abstract and hypothetical thinking.
• Key concepts include schemas (mental frameworks for organizing knowledge), assimilation (fitting new information into existing schemas), and accommodation (adjusting schemas to fit new information).

Cognitive Theories - Information Processing

• Information-processing theory views the human mind as a computer, focusing on how information is encoded, stored, and retrieved.
• Development involves improvements in attention, memory, and problem-solving skills.
• Sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory are key components of the information-processing system.
• Executive functions, such as planning and decision-making, become more sophisticated with age.

Systems Theories - Ecological Systems

• Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory emphasizes the multiple levels of environmental influence on development.
• The microsystem includes immediate environments such as family, school, and peer group.
• The mesosystem involves interactions between microsystems, such as the relationship between home and school.
• The exosystem includes external settings that indirectly influence development, such as parents' workplaces.
• The macrosystem represents cultural values, laws, and customs.
• The chronosystem involves historical changes and transitions over the lifespan.

Systems Theories - Dynamic Systems

• Dynamic systems theory emphasizes the ongoing interaction between a person's physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development, as well as their environment.
• Development is viewed as a complex, dynamic process involving constant change and adaptation.
• Change in one area of development can influence other areas.
• Self-organization is a key concept, where patterns of behavior emerge from the interaction of multiple factors.
• Example: A child learning to walk involves the interaction of muscle strength, balance, motivation, and environmental support.

Evolutionary Theories

• Evolutionary theories emphasize the role of genetics and adaptation in human development.
• Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection suggests that traits that enhance survival and reproduction are more likely to be passed on to future generations.
• Ethology, the study of animal behavior, has informed evolutionary perspectives on human development.
• Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby, suggests that infants have an innate need to form close bonds with caregivers for survival and well-being.
• Evolutionary psychology applies evolutionary principles to understand human behavior, including social behavior, mate selection, and parenting.