Theories Of Development PDF

THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT BELINDA DUODU [email protected] +233246154202  Understanding the "levels of the mind" typically involves delving into psychological theories that explain the different layers or structures of consciousness and mental processes.  While there are various...

THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT BELINDA DUODU [email protected] +233246154202  Understanding the "levels of the mind" typically involves delving into psychological theories that explain the different layers or structures of consciousness and mental processes.  While there are various theoretical perspectives on this topic, one commonly referenced framework is Sigmund Freud's structural model of the mind, which consists of three main components: - the conscious - the preconscious and - the unconscious  Conscious Mind  This level of awareness encompasses everything that you are currently aware of, including your thoughts, perceptions, sensations, and feelings.  It represents your immediate awareness and attention to the external world and your internal experiences.  It’s like the tip of the iceberg readily available to our awareness  e.g. as you read this text, your conscious mind is actively engaged in processing the words and their meanings.  Preconscious Mind  The preconscious mind contains information that is not currently in your conscious awareness but can be readily brought into consciousness.  It acts as a sort of "mental storage" for memories, knowledge, and information that are not actively being thought about but can be easily retrieved with a little effort.  It’s like things just beneath the surface of water, easy to access when we dive down a bit  E.g. memories of what you ate for breakfast, your phone number or the name of a childhood friend might reside in your preconscious mind until you consciously recall it.  Unconscious Mind  It is the deepest level of the mind. It is a vast reservoir of thoughts, feelings and memories that are outside of our conscious awareness and are inaccessible to us  According to Freudian theory, the unconscious mind contains thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories that are outside of conscious awareness but still influence behavior and experience.  These unconscious processes may stem from repressed or suppressed memories, unresolved conflicts, primal instincts, and other hidden psychological contents.  Freud believed that the unconscious plays a significant role in shaping human behavior, often manifesting in dreams, slips of the tongue (Freudian slips), and other forms of indirect expression. Significance of Freud’s structure of the mind analysis  Freud tried to explain that what we suppress into the unconscious has a lot of impact on our behavior. In that, most of the mental problems are caused by unpleasant experiences that have been repressed unto the unconscious long before(during childhood).  He believed that psychological problems in adulthood can be traced back to traumatic episodes in childhood.  He believed that many of the symptoms of mental illness were outlets of suppressed memories from the unconscious mind.  Explanation of Freud’s structure of personality  To psychologist, personality is those aspects of us that are enduring , constant, that is the stable characteristics of us.  The term “personality” is used to identify the most obvious characteristic of a person, people may describe you as' very aggressive, very shy, introvert or sweet.  In most instances, the impression we make on people may also be used to label our "personality."  People are born with a certain number of instincts or drives (human instinctive behaviour) The human mind has 3 aspects which influence behaviour: The province of the mind (Id, ego, superego) 11 The Id  The id is primitive, chaotic, inaccessible to consciousness (unconscious part of personality), unchangeable, amoral, illogical, unorganized.  It is filled with energy received from basic drives and discharged to seek pleasure; the pleasure principle.  It is not in contact with reality  E.g. a toddler screaming for candy 07/11/2024  Ego 12  Grows out of the id during infancy  It is governed by the reality principle, which it tries to substitute for the pleasure principle of the id  It tries to find realistic ways to satisfy the id’s urges while considering social norms, morals and practical limitations  The ego is the decision-making or executive branch of personality  The ego uses repression and other defense mechanisms to defend itself against this anxiety. 07/11/2024  The superego 13  Is guided by the moralistic and idealistic principles.  The superego grows out of the ego.  It is the moral and ethical part of the personality  It represents our internalized sense of right and wrong, often influenced by our parents, caregivers and society  Has two subsystems, the conscience and the ego-ideal – The conscience results from experiences with punishments for improper behavior and tells us what we should not do, – The ego-ideal develops from experiences with rewards for proper behavior and tells us what we should do  It strives for perfection and can make us feel guilty or ashamed if we violate our internalized moral code  The superego watches closely over the ego, judging its actions and intentions 07/11/2024  Anxiety: A threat to the ego 15  Anxiety is a feeling of fear and dread  Reality anxiety is a fear of tangible or possible dangers;  Neurotic anxiety involves a conflict between id and ego;  Moral anxiety involves a conflict between id and superego 07/11/2024  Defense mechanisms  Defense mechanisms are psychological strategies that individuals unconsciously employ to cope with anxiety, discomfort, and internal conflict.  These mechanisms operate at the subconscious level and help protect the ego from distressing thoughts or feelings.  While they can provide temporary relief, defense mechanisms often distort reality and may lead to maladaptive behavior if overused or relied upon excessively.  Sigmund Freud and his daughter, Anna Freud, were among the first to extensively study defense  Denial: Denial involves refusing to accept or acknowledge the reality of a situation or a distressing aspect of oneself.  This can manifest as outright rejection of a fact or a problem, minimizing its significance, or rationalizing it away. E.g. someone diagnosed with a terminal illness may deny the diagnosis in order to avoid facing their mortality  Projection: Projection involves attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or impulses to others.  It involves seeing your own negative qualities in others, often to avoid dealing with them in yourself. For instance, someone who is highly critical of others may be projecting their own self-criticism onto those around them. E.g. someone who is feeling angry may accuse others of being angry  Displacement: Displacement involves redirecting one's emotions or impulses from their original source to a less threatening or safer target. E.g. someone who is angry at their boss may vent their frustration on their spouse or children instead.  Regression: Regression involves reverting to an earlier stage of development in response to stressful situations.  This can manifest as childlike behaviors, such as temper tantrums, pouting, or seeking comfort from others, in adults. For instance, an adult may revert to thumb- sucking or seeking excessive reassurance during times of stress.  Rationalization: Rationalization involves creating logical explanations or justifications to make unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or behaviors seem more acceptable or understandable (coming up with excuses for a behaviour that make it seem more acceptable). E.g, someone who fails an exam might rationalize their poor performance by blaming the difficulty of the test or claiming they didn't need to study anyway or someone who is procrastinating may rationalize their behaviour by telling themselves they work better under pressure  Sublimation: Sublimation involves channeling unacceptable impulses or emotions into socially acceptable activities or outlets. This can involve redirecting aggressive or sexual urges into productive or creative endeavors, such as art, sports, or intellectual pursuits.  Repression: Involves unconscious denial of the existence of something that causes anxiety (pushing unpleasant thoughts, feelings and memories out of conscious awareness) e.g. someone who has experienced a traumatic event may repress the memory of the event in order to avoid the pain associated with it.  Reaction Formation: Expressing an id impulse that is the opposite of the one that is truly driving the person (expressing the opposite of what you are truly feeling). Eg. A young boy bullying a young lady because he’s in love with her or someone who is attracted to someone else may act hostile towards them  These defense mechanisms operate automatically and are often employed unconsciously as a way to protect the individual from experiencing overwhelming anxiety or distress.  While they can serve a protective function in the short term, they may also interfere with healthy coping mechanisms and hinder personal growth and self-awareness if not addressed.  Psychotherapy and self-reflection can help individuals recognize and work through defense mechanisms to develop more adaptive ways of coping with stress and managing emotions.  *Components of personality  Personality is a complex and multifaceted construct that encompasses various dimensions, traits, and characteristics that make individuals unique.  Different theories and models of personality propose different components or factors that contribute to its structure. 1. Traits: Traits are enduring patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that characterize individuals and differentiate them from one another.  Trait theories of personality, such as the Five-Factor Model (also known as the Big Five), propose that personality can be described in terms of a set of fundamental dimensions or traits. The Big Five traits are:  Openness to experience: Reflects a person's level of curiosity, creativity, and willingness to try new things.  Conscientiousness: Reflects a person's degree of organization, responsibility, and dependability.  Extraversion: Reflects a person's level of sociability, assertiveness, and preference for stimulation from the external environment.  Agreeableness: Reflects a person's tendency to be cooperative, compassionate, and trusting toward others.  Neuroticism (or Emotional Stability): Reflects a person's tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and vulnerability. 2. Biological Factors: Biological factors, including genetics, neurochemistry, and brain structure, play a significant role in shaping personality.  Genetic predispositions can influence temperament, which in turn affects personality development. E.g. variations in neurotransmitter levels (such as serotonin and dopamine) have been associated with differences in personality traits. 3. Cognitive Processes: Cognitive processes, such as perception, interpretation, and attribution, contribute to how individuals perceive themselves and the world around them.  Cognitive styles, such as optimism-pessimism, locus of control, and self-efficacy beliefs, influence personality development and behavior. 4. Social and Environmental Influences: Social interactions, cultural norms, family dynamics, peer relationships, and societal influences shape personality development. Attachment theory suggests that early relationships with caregivers influence the development of attachment styles, which in turn impact personality traits and interpersonal relationships. 5. Self-Concept: Self-concept refers to how individuals perceive and evaluate themselves. It encompasses beliefs, attitudes, values, roles, and identities that individuals attribute to themselves. Self-concept influences self-esteem, self-efficacy, and self-regulation, which in turn affect behavior and well-being. 6. Motives and Goals: Personality is influenced by individuals' motives, needs, and goals. Psychodynamic theories propose that unconscious motives, such as the pursuit of pleasure (id), adherence to societal norms (superego), and reality-oriented behaviors (ego), influence personality development and behavior. 7. Environmental Factors: Environmental factors, such as life experiences, traumas, and stressors, can shape personality development. Resilience, coping strategies, and adaptation to life events play a role in how individuals respond to environmental challenges and shape their personalities. These components interact dynamically and influence one another throughout the lifespan, contributing to the complexity and uniqueness of each individual's personality. Various theories and models seek to explain how these components interact and shape personality development across different contexts and stages of life. FREUD’S PSYCHOSEXUAL THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT  Terminologies 30  Fixation is a failure to move forward from one stage to another as expected.  Fixation is caused by excessive gratification of needs at a particular stage or by excessive frustration of those needs.  Oedipus complex: During the phallic stage (ages 4–5), the unconscious desire of a boy for his mother, accompanied by a desire to replace or destroy his father.  Castration anxiety: A boy’s fear during the Oedipal period that his penis will be cut off. 07/11/2024  Terminologies 31  Electra complex: During the phallic stage (ages 4–5), the unconscious desire of a girl for her father, accompanied by a desire to replace or destroy her mother  Penis envy: The envy the female feels toward the male because the male possesses a penis; this is accompanied by a sense of loss because the female does not have a penis.  Latency period: The period from approximately age 5 to puberty, during which the sex instinct is dormant, sublimated in school activities, sports, and hobbies, and in developing friendships 07/11/2024  Psychosexual development  Most modern psychologists base their understanding of children at least partly on the work of Sigmund Freud.  His theories are concerned primarily with the libido (sexual drive or development).  According to Freud, from birth on, we have an innate tendency to seek pleasure especially through the physical stimulation and particularly through stimulation of parts/ zones of the body that are sensitive to touch.  Although he did not study children, he focussed on childhood development as a cause of later conflict  The mouth, anus and genitals (erogenous zones) are associated with each stage  He believed that a child who did not adequately resolve a particular stage of development could have a fixation (compulsion) that correlated with that stage. i.e. continuous attachment to and old stage after moving on to a new stage.  This results into a problematic behaviour patterns  According to Freud, child development is described as a series of 'psychosexual stages.  Oral stage  Anal stage  Phallic stage  Latency period  Genital stage  Oral stage  Children are highly dependent on their mothers and derive pleasure from sucking and swallowing.  Baby expresses needs and find satisfaction through the mouth and begins to make a sense of the world  Fixations of the oral stage – overeating, smoking; alcoholism; unrealistic self confidence; and depression.  The Id controls this stage but the ego begins to develop and functions well by the end of the stage  Anal stage  Child’s first encounter with the serious need to learn self control and to take responsibility  The primary focus is on controlling bladder and bowel movements  Major conflict at this stage is toilet training- child has to learn to control his/her bodily needs  Developing this control leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence  Fixation – anal repulsive- messy, wasteful, destructive anal retentive- occurs if the parents are too harsh in treating mistakes, the child develops into an orderly, rigid, obsessive personality  Phallic stage  Interest moves to the genitals. They feel a strong but unconscious sexual attraction to the parent of the opposite sex  Awareness of sexual difference can result in Oedipus complex (Electra complex in women), an unconscious desire for the parent of the opposite sex while developing a conflict for the parent of the same-sex.  Signs of fixation- narcissism, selfishness, poor opposite sex relationships  Latency stage  According to Freud, personality is formed by the end of the phallic stage, and sexual impulses are rechannelled during the latency period into activities such as sport, learning and social activities  It is a time of relative calm  Girls play primarily with girls and boys play primarily with boys  The focus here is acquiring knowledge and skills  Genital stage  It begins with the onset of puberty  It’s when the libido reemerges  The goal of this stage is the establishment of a mature adult sexuality that will eventually be accompanied by biological reproduction  If this stage is successful, the individual becomes capable of creating a mature balance between love and work  Signs of fixation – guilt about sexuality, feelings of inadequacy, poor sexual relationships, anxious feelings regarding the opposite sex  Piaget’s theory  Cognitive development commences with developing schemas:  –Schemas refers to the mental representations of the physical and social environment  Types of schemas  Behavioural schemas (e.g., learning to tie shoelaces  Symbolic schemas (e.g., using representation such as numbers and language  Operational schemas (e.g., learning to add up or subtract)  Development of schemas  Assimilation: Incorporating new information about the world into existing schemas  Accommodation: Modifying or altering existing schemas to cater for new information  Piaget’s stages of cognitive development  Sensorimotor stage  Pre-operational stage  Concrete operational stage  Formal operational stage  Sensorimotor stage  Age: 0 to 2 years  Gain sensory information through the mouth and hands to learn about the properties of objects around them.  Learn to recognize and later label familiar objects  Learn that objects continue to exist when they are out of sight  Pre- operational stage  Age: 2 to 7 years ❖  Influenced by how things look, rather than by logical reasoning  Learn to use imagination and language  Is egocentric (unable to see how things look from the point of view or perspective of someone else)  Concrete operational stage  Age: 7 to 11 years  Capable of using logical reasoning  Can view things from the perspectives of others  There is the ability to classify many tasks, order objects in a logical sequence, and comprehend the principle of conservation  Have difficulty in dealing with abstract concepts  Formal operational stage  Age: 11 years and above  Capable of engaging in abstract thinking  Able to manipulate ideas and follow a hypothetical argument, using logic and without reference to a concrete object  THEORIES (Cont’d)  ERICKSON’S 8 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT ERIK ERICKSON 1902-1994  Stage 1: Infant (Birth – 18 months): Trust vs. Mistrust  An infant develops their sense of trust from early care giving.  With proper care and attention, the child forms a global impression of a trustworthy and secure world. On the other hand, if their world is inconsistent, painful, stressful and threatening, they learn to expect more of the same and believe life is unpredictable and untrustworthy  THEORIES (Cont’d)  Stage 2. Early Childhood(toddler) 18 months to 3yrs Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt(Will)  Child needs to develop a certain level of independence through exploration. They explore feeding and dressing, toileting and many new ways of moving about  When they succeed in doing things for themselves, they gain a sense of self- confidence and self- control  They learn to feel shame and doubt if they fail continually and are punished or labelled messy, sloppy, inadequate or bad  THEORIES (Cont’d)  Stage 3. Preschool (4 to 5yrs) Initiative vs. Guilt  Children here explore beyond themselves. They discover how the world works and how they can affect it  For them, the word consists of real and imaginary people and things  If their explorations, projects and activities are generally effective, they learn to deal with things and people in a constructive way  If they are criticized severely or punished, they learn to feel guilty for many of their own actions  THEORIES (Cont’d)  Stage 4. School Age (6 to 11 yrs) Industry vs. Inferiority  Children within this age group develop numerous skills and competencies in school, at home and in the outside world of their peers  According to Erickson, one’s sense of self is enriched by the realistic development of such competencies  Comparison with peers is increasingly  THEORIES (Cont’d)  Stage 5.Adolescence (12 to 18 yrs) Identity vs. Role Confusion  Teens develop a sense of self. If they accomplish this, they can stay true to themselves and what they believe.  Important Events: Social Relationships  Basic Virtue: Fidelity and Devotion.  THEORIES (Cont’d)  Stage 6. Young Adulthood (20 to 24 yrs) Intimacy vs. Isolation  Intimate, loving relationships need to form in this stage. If this fails to happen, people feel alone and isolated.  Important Events: Relationships Basic Virtue: Love and Affiliation.  THEORIES (Cont’d)  Stage 7. Middle Adulthood (25 to 64 yrs) Generativity vs. Stagnation  Adults need to create things that they can nurture that will outlast them; generally, children. If they do not accomplish this, they will feel as though they did nothing good for the world.  Important Events: Work and Parenthood  Basic Virtue: Care and Production.  THEORIES (End)  Stage 8. Maturity (65 to death) Ego Integrity vs. Despair  Adults look back onto their life and need to be able to feel fulfilled. If they do not feel this, they will feel bitter and defeated.  Important Events: Reflection on Life.  Basic Virtue: Wisdom and Renunciation.