Theories of Development

• Theories of Development looks at development from different approaches
• Theoretical perspective on human development
• Psychoanalytic, learning, cognitive, and evolutionary perspectives explored

Balte's Life-Span Developmental Approach

• Development is considered a lifelong process
• Development is multidimensional
• Development is multidirectional
• Biology and culture both impact development throughout life
• Development involves changing resource allocation
• Development exhibits plasticity, meaning it is adaptable
• Development is influenced by historical and cultural contexts

Basic Theoretical Issues

• A key question is whether development is active or reactive

Active vs. Reactive Development

• John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau's debate led to contrasting models
• Mechanistic model: behavior is like a machine reacting to external stimuli
• Organismic model: people are active, growing organisms driving their own development

Psychoanalytic Perspective: Sigmund Freud

• Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic perspective focuses on libido as the psychic energy/sex drive behind desire and pleasure
• Freud identified 5 Psychosexual Stages of Development:

Psychosexual Stages of Development

• Oral Stage (birth to 1 year): Erogenous zone is the mouth
• Anal Stage (1-3 years): Focus is on the anus
• Phallic Stage (4-6 years): Genital area is the center of attention
• Latency Stage (6 years to puberty): Dormant psychosexual development, libido directed into social and cultural accomplishment
• Genital Stage (puberty onwards): Reawakening of sexual aim, synthesized sexual drive

Levels of the Mind

• Conscious: Perceptual conscious system
• Unconscious: Drives and instincts beyond awareness
• Pre-conscious: Ideas not currently in awareness but can become conscious

Anxiety

• Anxiety serves as a warning against danger
• Reality anxiety: tangible fears/dangers
• Neurotic anxiety: fear of punishment for expressing ID's desire improperly
• Moral anxiety: fear of violating social norms

Defense Mechanisms

• Repression
• Denial
• Projection
• Reaction formation
• Regression
• Introjection
• Identification
• Displacement
• Sublimation

Further Psychoanalytic Concepts

• Connection between the anus and the development of aggressive behavior
• Relapse and regression

Psychoanalytic Perspective: Erik Erikson

• Erik Erikson's psychoanalytic perspective emphasizes the ego
• Ego is the center of personality
• Ego has a unified sense of self
• Ego is independent and creates a self-identity
• Body ego is how one views their physical self differently from others
• Ego ideal is the image one has of themself compared to an ideal
• Ego identity is the image one has in various social roles

For Erikson:

• The Ego forms from society and is shaped by it
• Personality depends on cultural values and needs
• The ego develops throughout life based on the epigenetic principle

Key points on Psychosocial Development

• Growth follows the epigenetic principle, with fixed stages for certain ages
• Each life stage involves an interaction of opposites (syntonic vs. dystonic elements)
• Basic strength develops at each stage
• Core pathology develops from insufficient basic strength
• Biological aspects of human development are important
• Ego identity is shaped by conflicts and events
• Personality development involves identity crises

Psychosocial Stages

• Stage 1: Infancy (0-1 year)
  • Basic Conflict: Trust vs. Mistrust
  • Virtue: Hope
  • Outcome: Trust that basic needs will be met
• Stage 2: Early Childhood (1-3 years)
  • Basic Conflict: Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt
  • Virtue: Will
  • Outcome: Development of independence
• Stage 3: Play Age (3-6 years)
  • Basic Conflict: Initiative vs. Guilt
  • Virtue: Purpose
  • Outcome: Taking initiative without overstepping boundaries
• Stage 4: School Age (7-11 years)
  • Basic Conflict: Industry vs. Inferiority
  • Virtue: Competence
  • Outcome: Developing confidence in abilities
• Stage 5: Adolescence (12-18 years)
  • Basic Conflict: Identity vs. Confusion
  • Virtue: Fidelity
  • Outcome: Experimenting with and developing identity and roles
• Stage 6: Early Adulthood (19-29 years)
  • Basic Conflict: Intimacy vs. Isolation
  • Virtue: Love
  • Outcome: Establishing intimate relationships
• Stage 7: Middle Age (30-64 years)
  • Basic Conflict: Generativity vs. Stagnation
  • Virtue: Care
  • Outcome: Contributing to society
• Stage 8: Old Age (65 onward)
  • Basic Conflict: Integrity vs. Despair
  • Virtue: Wisdom
  • Outcome: Assessing life and contributions

Specifics of the First Four Stages:

• Infancy (0-1 year):
  • Oral-sensory psychosexual mode
  • Trust vs. Mistrust social aspect
  • Basic strength is hope
  • Core pathology is withdrawal
• Early Childhood (2-3 years):
  • Anal-urethral-muscular psychosexual mode
  • Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt centers on self-expression
  • Rapid development of physical and cognitive abilities
  • Basic strength is will/self restraint
  • Core pathology is compulsion/perfectionism
• Play Age (3-5/6 years):
  • Genital-Locomotor psychosexual mode
  • Initiative vs. Guilt centers on goal-oriented activity
  • Basic strength is purpose
  • Core pathology is inhibition
• School Age (6-12 years):
  • Sexual Latency psychosexual mode, energy towards tech
  • Industry vs. Inferiority centers on social growth
  • Basic strength is competence
  • Core pathology is regression

Later Stages

• Adolescence (-12 to 18 years):
• Ego Identity vs. Role Confusion is at play here
• Puberty marks this stage, but presents minor crisis
• Basic strength fidelity
• Early adulthood (19-29 years):
  • Genitality psychosexual mode
  • Centers on Intimacy vs. Isolation
  • Basic strength love
  • Core pathology exclusivity
• Middle Age (31-60 years):
  • Longest period. Procreativity psychosexual mode
  • Widwning commitment and natual desire to mentor
  • Rejectivity core pathology
  • Pseudo-specification belief that other groups are inferior
• Old age (61 to death):
  • Generalized sensuality psychosexual mode
  • Centres on Integrity vs. Despair
  • Disdain core pathology
  • Basic strength is wisdom

Learning Perspective

Learning

• Development results from learning, gained thorugh experience/adaptation
• Focus on observable behavior, viewed as objective and testable in a laboratory
• The mind starts as a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate)
• Development is seen as continuous and reactive in response to environmental input
• Two major sub-theories: behaviorism and social learning approach

Learning Theories Explored

• Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
• BF Skinner's Operant Conditioning
• Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory

Classical Conditioning by Ivan Pavlov

• Learning through association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus

Key Classical Conditioning Terms:

• Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Stimulus that naturally triggers a response
• Unconditioned Response (UR): Natural, automatic reaction to the US
• Neutral Stimulus (NS): Stimulus that initially doesn't trigger a response
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): The NS becomes a CS after pairing with the US, triggering a similar response
• Conditioned Response (CR): Learned response to the CS

Operant Conditioning

• Learning developed by psychologist B.F. Skinner
• How behavior is influenced by consequences
• Behaviors are more likely to be repeated with rewards and less likely with punishments

Reinforcement

• Key to operant conditioning is immediate reinforcement
• Organism acts and is then reinforced
• Shaping: Rewards approximations behavior until desired
• Successive Approximation: Reinforces final desired behavior
• Operant Discrimination: is a result of consequences and reinforcement

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Strengthens and rewards behavior
• Positive Reinforcements: add a stimulus to increase behavior
• Negative Reinforcements: remove a stimulus to increase behavior

Schedules and Condition

Types of Reinforcers

• Conditioned reinforcers are environmental stimuli that are associated with primary reinforcers
• Generalized reinforcers: stimuli associated with multiple primary reinforcers
• Continuous Schedule: Reinforced per response
• Intermittent Schedule: Based on time and behavior

Intermittent Schedules are:

• Fixed-ratio: Reinforcement after nth response
• Variable-ratio: Number of responses for reinforcement changes
• Fixed-interval: Reinforcement after a set time
• Variable-interval: Time periods for reinforcement vary

Extinction in Operant Conditioning

• Responses can be lost or weakened through non-reinforcement
• Extinction: Systematically withhold reinforcement until response probability diminishes

Examples of Operant Extinction

• Parenting: Ignoring tantrums decreases their frequency over time
• Training Pets: Dog quits fetching a ball when they no longer get treats

Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory

• Observational learning of behaviors, skills, and attitudes
• This theory integrates cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences

Observational Learning

• Key assumption is that individuals learn by observing behaviors of others
• Core involves modeling behavior, and generalizing from a model
• Determined by characterisitscs of the: Model, observer and consequencies of the behavior modeled

Enactive Learning

• Allows people to learn behavior through consequence
• The ways people respond will inform us of the effects of actions
• Behaviour is capbale of symbolically representing actions and outcomes

Triadic Reciprocal Causation

• Assumes that human action will interact three ways: environment, behavior and personal facotrs.

Academic Performance and Triadic Reciprocal Causation

• A student's belief to succeed(personal) influences study habits
• The students performance and feedback will affect the individuals motivation

Cognitive Perspective

• Focuses on mental processes in development

Cognitive Stage Theory by Jean Piaget

• Cognitive development occurs through three interrelated processes:

3 Interrelated Processes by Piaget

• Organization: Categorizing experiences to understand the world
• Adaptation: Ability to handle new information based on prior knowledge
  • Assimilation
  • Accomodation
• Equilibration: Balancing cognitive structure and new experiences
• Disequilibrium leads to accomodation

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Learning Theory

• Emphasizes the importance of social interaction on learning
• The zone of proximal development is the gap between what a learner can do independently and with help
• Scaffolding: giving temporary support to master a task

Brofenbrenner: Bioecological Theory

• Represents development in rings of a child
• Includes: Chronosystem, Macrosystem, Exosystem, Mesosystem

Robert Siegler: Information Processing Theory

• Thinking is seen as an information process
• Computer analogy:
  • Brain as computer hardware
  • Cognition as software
  • Sensory impression as input
  • Observable behavior as output