Theories in Development PDF

# Theories in Development ## What theories do - Produce testable hypotheses - Organize known findings - Other practical guidance - Different theories have different areas of focus - Interpersonal, behavioral, cognitive, cultural, etc. ## Storm + Stress Theory - Proposed by G. Stanley Hall - Adoles...

# Theories in Development ## What theories do - Produce testable hypotheses - Organize known findings - Other practical guidance - Different theories have different areas of focus - Interpersonal, behavioral, cognitive, cultural, etc. ## Storm + Stress Theory - Proposed by G. Stanley Hall - Adolescence is a period of turmoil and difficulty ### Three key elements 1. Conflict with parents and/or authority 2. Mood disruptions 3. Risky behaviors ## Psychoanalytic Theory - Freud's Perspective - Argued most (if not all) of our development occurs in the first 6 years - Psycho sexual stages - Sexual urges/pleasure associated with a specific body part - Each stage has its own conflict ### Psychosexual stages - Early childhood experiences shape personality - Oral (first 18 months): pleasure center = mouth - Anal (18-36months): pleasure focus on bowel elimination ### Psychosexual stages continued... - Phallic (3-6 yrs): Pleasure center = genitals - Boys-> Oedipus Complex(sexual feelings for mother). - Castration anxiety motivates boys to identify with father; facilitates the superego - Girls+Electra Complex(Sexual feelings for father). - No castration anxiety means weaker superego; - Freud believed females were morally inferior - Penis envy - Latency (6 puberty): "Psychic time-out" - Genital (adolescence + adulthood) sexual pleasure shifts to people outside of the home - Socially appropriate targets ## Erikson Psychosocial Theory - Erik Erikson (1902-1994) - Generally agreed with much of Freud's work - Erikson believed that we are active agents within our own development - Believed there were 8 life crisis/conflicts that need to be resolved - How we move through these can affect our development ### Psychosocial Development - Trust vs. Mistrust - Birth - 1 years old - Learn to trust caregivers - Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt - 1-3 years - Discover that they have a will of their own ->assert independence - Initiative vs. Guilt - 3-6 years - Start to assume some responsibilities & failure leads to guilt - Industry vs. Inferiority - 6- puberty - Mastering Knowledge and skills - Identify vs. Role Confusion - Teens to early 20's - Who am I? Where do I fit in? - Intimacy vs Isolation - 20's to 40's (yrs) - Those who do not establish close relationships may experience Isolation - Generativity vs Stagnation - 40s to 60's years - Older generation helps younger generation - Integrity vs. Despair - Late 60's + - Evaluation of one's life ## Sociocultural Theory - Culture has a substantial influence on our development - Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) - Focused on interaction between culture and education - Apprenticeship thinking and guided participation ## Cognitive Theory - Jean Piaget (1896-1980) - Cognitive development progresses though a series of stages - We gain specific knowledge in each of these stages. ### Piaget's stages - Sensorimotor - Birth - 2 years - Pre operational -stage of pre operational thought - 2-6 years - egocentrism - Concrete operational - concrete logical thoughts sense - 6-11 years - Formal operational- think abstractiy, thoughts -12 years through adulthood ### Which theory is the best? - Eclectic approach - Held by most developmentalists - Aspects of various theories are applied to answer questions - Often more helpful than using only one theory ## Physical Foundations: Puberty & Health ### Puberty: Physical Changes - Three major changes during this time - Growth spurt - Approx. 10 inches and 40 lbs change - Development of primary sex characteristics - Body structures directly related to reproduction - Ovaries/uterus in females, penis/testes in males - Development of secondary sex characteristic - Physical characteristics that are NOT DIRECTLY related to reproduction - Eg, body hair, breasts, and hips in females - Eg, body hair, adams apple, shoulders in the male ### Primary Sex characteristics - Puberty marks the time when primary sex characteristics begin to mature - Ovaries/uterus mature in females - Uterus lining builds which will later be shed during the process of menstruation - Penis/testes mature in males - As well as the prostate gland and seminal vesicles - Females experience first menstruation(menarche) - Males experience first ejaculation (spermarche) ### Second Sex Characteristics - Physical traits not directly related to reproduction - Other changes also occur - Females start developing breasts, body hair, pubic hair - Males develop facial hair, body hair, pubic hair - Both sexes experience a deepening in voice - Male voices deepen more than females due to development of the larynx ### The Growth Spurt - Sudden, uneven jumpin size of almost every body part - Growth spurt of about 10 inches - Extremities grow first - Fingers/toes -> hands/feet -> arms/legs horse - Peak growth spurt (height) lasts about 24-36 months - Girls peak growth spurt is generally a year or two earlier than males ### Muscle to fat Ratio Changes - Girls experience increases in both body fat and muscle - Boys experience a 150% greater increase in muscle growth compared to females - Skeletal growth also leads to changes in proportions - Males shoulders broaden relative to hips - Female hips broaden relative to shoulders and waist - Summary - Puberty is characterized by a number of physical transformations - Growth Spurt - Development of Primary sex characteristics - Development of Secondary Sex characteristics ### Puberty: Hormonal changes - The process: doesn't happen overnight - More gradual then we might think - Starts in middle childhood when the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland to begin releasing growth hormones (gh) - Secretions of gh starts slow, but increase overtime - Eventually lead to changes in body size and skeletal maturity - The pituitary gland produces hormones that stimulate the adrenal glands - Hypothalamus -> Pituitary -> Adrenal ### Adrenal glands - Sex hormones are on the rise long before physical changes appear - Middle childhood - Adrenal glands start to release increasing levels of adrenal androgens - Contributes to our physical changes - Eg. growth spurt, body odor, body hair, skin oiliness - This event is called "adnenarch" - Adrenal androgens have increased tenfold by age 10 Associated with first feelings of sexual attraction ### The Gonads - The pituitary gland activates the gonads and start to release even more sex hormones - Paired sexglands, males testes, femalesowitis #### however... - Relative amount of hormones are sex specific - Estrogen (chiefly estradiol released from ovaries) - Androgen (chiefly testosterone released from testes) - Relative amount of sex hormones determines sex characteristics - More estrogen = female sex characteristics - eg, development of breasts - More androgen: male characteristics - E.g. Facial hair - Both estrogen and androgen play an important role in growth and development among both sexes ### How does it all start? - HPG axis gets "turned on" by a number of different factors - Genetic factors (parents starting puberty early or late - Environmental factors(stress) - Nutritional factors (weight, BMI affects puberty starting) ### The Process: Onset and Duration - Girls typically begin puberty earlier than boys - Onset is ~1-2 years earlier in females - Girls start this process between 8-11 years - Puberty ends between 14-16 years - Boys start the process between 10-12 years - Ends between 15-17 years - Wide variation in this process - "Late boys may not start till 14 years -"Early girls can start as early as 6-7 yrs ## Continued ### Something to think about... Does the timing of puberty impact social development for males/females? Yes ### Pros and Cons Boys - Pros of early maturation - Higher in popularity, better self esteem - Cons of early maturation - More drug and alcohol use, delinquency, precocious sexual activity, greater impact of victimization/being bullied Girls - Pros of early maturation - More popular... among boys - Cons of early maturation - Precocious sexual activity, Lowered self-image - higher rates of depression, eating disorders, anxiety - higher incidence of victimization (eg. rumorsor Gossip), more problem behavior (deliquency, drugs, alcohol use, school problems, etc.) ### Puberty and social outcomes It's not all bad thou h... - Most adolescents react positively to pubertal changes - Especially secondary sex characteristics - Reactions to menarche are less negative than in the past. - Some of the negative consequences could be due to environmental influences. - Example, negative consequences of early puberty in women may be due to parental/ family issues rather than puberty - Family stress causes earlier onset of puberty and these women may go into adolescence with emotional and social difficulties due to parental family - Development is all in context! - Issues